A group of gray-headed drivers took orange traffic cones, past red signs and through a white tent on Sunday to receive COVID-19 vaccinations without ever leaving their cars.
About 1,000 people over the age of 70 received the first dose of Pfizer vaccine in a parking lot outside Coors Field as part of a UCHealth drive-through event that dried up before a much larger vaccination effort was planned for next weekend.
Sunday’s vaccinations were intended to test the organization’s setup and enable UCHealth to work out twists and turns before next weekend, when organizers want to vaccinate as many as 10,000 people on the driveway within two days. The vaccine is only given to people with appointments; any others who show up will be turned away.
The trial run went smoothly on Sunday – traffic gradually flowed to 18 individual tents where drivers were vaccinated. After the first hour, UCHealth added some extra directions for drivers and used another flag movement to point people in the right direction.
After patients were vaccinated, they had to wait about 15 minutes in another parking lot to ensure that they did not experience any adverse reactions. There were signs saying that drivers should honk their horns or put on their flashlights when they get sick. Surrounding medical observers watched the fate.
Robb Pickard, 70, snapped a selfie when he received the vaccination Sunday, less than ten minutes after pulling in at the line. The process was smooth and easy, he said.
“Hopefully it will get me and others back to normal,” he said.
Richard Zane, head of emergency medicine at UCHealth, said mass vaccinations such as those planned for next weekend were one of three ways healthcare providers could administer vaccines. The shots can also be given from fixed clinics, such as doctors’ offices, or from mobile clinics, which can travel to more difficult to reach communities.
“The sooner we are all vaccinated, the sooner we can put it in our rearview mirror,” he said. Spokesman Dan Weaver currently has the capacity to do about 30,000 vaccinations a week, but actually gives half of it due to the limited amount of vaccination.
The state of Colorado has committed 10,000 doses for next weekend’s event, Zane said. The doses distributed Sunday were stored under supervision in special freezers at Coors Field until injected into patients.
Everyone who is vaccinated should have an appointment in advance and anyone can sign up to be vaccinated through UCHealth, either through its website or by calling 720-462-2255 – those who qualify for vaccination, such as people older 70, will then be notified when an appointment is available.
Sandra Haselden (73) hopes to be vaccinated to navigate the world more this year. She has an immune deficiency disease and stayed home throughout the pandemic and did not even dare to buy groceries.
“It was a very boring and limiting life,” she said. “It’s hard not to get in the trash.”
As soon as she receives her second dose of vaccine – within about three weeks – she looks forward to doing messages and getting out of the house.
‘I want this cross to disappear. If it takes a needle in the arm, it’s worth it, ‘she said.
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