Colorado teachers and child care workers get COVID-19 vaccine first among essential workers – The Denver Post

Teachers and child care workers in Colorado will be the first essential workers to be vaccinated against COVID-19 after most people over the age of 70 received their shots, the state chief of efforts to spread vaccination announced Monday.

High-risk health workers and nursing home residents, who make up Phase 1A of the state’s distribution plan, first got the coronavirus vaccines when the shipment began arriving in Colorado last month.

In late December, the Colorado Department of Public Health and the Environment said essential workers, ranging from employees in grocery stores to teachers, would be admitted to Phase 1B, along with people 70 years and older. A week later it is made clear that the workers in phase 1B will be below a ‘dotted line’ and will have to wait until more older people get their shots.

Discussions are underway on priorities in the critical work groups, Colorado National Guard Brig. Gen. Scott Sherman, but consensus has been reached on the importance of reopening childcare, preschools and K-12 schools.

“Teachers are going to be the first priority … to learn in person,” Sherman said during a morning news conference.

Scott Bookman, the COVID-19 commander of the state health department, also announced that the state has drawn up a hotline for people who are having trouble signing up for the vaccine: 877-268-2926 (CO-VAX-CO). The state does not maintain a central waiting list, but the hotline will help connect eligible people with providers they can report to, he said.

If the state achieves its goal of vaccinating 70% of Coloradans 70 years or older by February 28, essential workers could start in late February or early March. If nothing changes in the prioritization scheme, it will be the turn of people in their 60s and younger people with chronic conditions who are not front workers, next year as part of phase 2, with healthy young and middle-aged adults – phase 3. by summer.

The state health department estimates Colorado has about 562,000 residents who are 70 years or older, and about 628,000 essential workers up front.

Government Jared Polis said earlier that when half of one priority group is vaccinated, the state will open access to the next group. The idea is to prevent a delay by meeting the priorities too strictly, he said.

A handful of teachers got their first shots during the week before the state’s leadership changed to prioritize people over 70. Those who had one shot may get the second one, but their colleagues who did not get the vaccine so quickly had to keep waiting.

Support staff from some districts in the metro area, including Denver Public Schools, may be vaccinated at this stage. According to Chalkbeat, the districts consider mental health workers and physical therapists to be medical personnel and security guards.

Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that Colorado ranks ninth in the country in the percentage of the population vaccinated, Sherman said.

According to government officials, Colorado administered 458,441 doses of COVID-19 vaccine this morning. As of Sunday, the state had received 594,440 doses.