March 6 Update on COVID-19 Vaccine Distribution

Boulder Community Health (BCH) President & CEO Robert Vissers, M.D. provided an email update on March 6, 2021 to community members regarding COVID-19 vaccine distribution.

The week of March 1 saw some important developments related to COVID-19 vaccine in Boulder County. BCH received its first shipments of the Johnson & Johnson (J&J) vaccine. Gov. Jared Polis expanded the groups eligible to receive COVID-19 vaccine to include Coloradans ages 60-64, people age 16-59 with two or more chronic medical problems, along with workers in grocery stores and meat-packing plants, almost 960,000 people in Colorado.

While it’s widely anticipated that supplies of all three COVID vaccines — Moderna, J&J and Pfizer — will increase in the future, the current supply continues to be limited in comparison to the number of people eligible to be vaccinated. Local hospitals and clinics are working closely with the county and state public health departments and make weekly requests for vaccine from the state, but how much we get and when we receive it continues to change from week to week.

BCH has now vaccinated almost 24,000 people, including some 18,000 people age 65 and older, along with 2,600 staff and educators from the Boulder Valley School District (BVSD). Right now, we have more than 10,000 people in those two groups already scheduled for vaccinations. Due to the limitations in vaccine supply, that 65+ group and BVSD staff will remain the top priority for BCH for the next several weeks.

The quickest and most efficient way to get vaccinated by BCH is through the MyBCH patient portal, which provides unrestricted access to vaccination scheduling — you do not need to be a BCH patient to set up a free MyBCH account. Individuals age 65 and older should take action now to establish a MyBCH account.

If you already have a MyBCH account, you should check that your personal information is up to date. If you need to set up an account, you can do that here.

We have set up a call center to help 65-and-older residents register for vaccination. Eligible individuals can call 303-415-7777 Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. – 5 p.m. Spanish-speaking interpreters are available. As you’d expect, we are getting lots of calls, so it will take time to respond to all inquiries. We appreciate your patience.

Eligible community members will be notified when it’s your turn to schedule an appointment through an email from MyBCH.

People in the 65+ category can get more detailed information here.

Johnson & Johnson Vaccine

BCH is happy to announce that our community now has access to the new single-dose J&J vaccine. BCH can provide three highly effective vaccines – J&J, Pfizer and Moderna.

National public health organizations, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and its Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, as well as our local infectious diseases physicians, endorse all three options – watch this short video with infectious diseases specialist Dr. Amie Meditz.

It is critical that as many people as possible get vaccinated as quickly as possible – it doesn’t matter which vaccine you receive.

Vaccine for Ages 60-64 and Those with Chronic Medical Issues

It’s clear that it will be some time before individuals in these groups will be able to get vaccinated. How long that will take depends on how quickly the supply of vaccine increases. Individuals in these groups can take action now to “get in line” for vaccine by setting up a free MyBCH patient portal account. MyBCH is the quickest and most efficient way to schedule a vaccination from BCH. The MyBCH patient portal provides unrestricted access to vaccination scheduling — you do not need to be a BCH patient to set up a free MyBCH account. You can set up an account here.

If you have trouble setting up your account, you can send questions to this email — MyBCH@bch.org. Our staff is currently receiving a high volume of emails, so they will respond to your message in the order in which it was received as quickly as possible. We appreciate your patience.

If you already have a MyBCH account, you should check that your personal information is up to date. You don’t need to take any other actions to be eligible for vaccination.

People in these groups can get more detailed information here.

Eligible community members will be notified when it’s your turn to schedule an appointment through an email from MyBCH.

The State has developed a plan for distributing vaccine to all Colorado citizens. BCH and other Colorado health systems will adhere to those guidelines. You can find updated information on Colorado’s plan here. We anticipate that it will take the majority of this year to vaccinate all Coloradans. BCH will strive to make vaccine distribution as efficient and equitable as possible.

Change in Hospital Visitation

While BCH is committed to keeping our patients and staff safe during the COVID-19 pandemic, we also recognize that visitors are important to a hospital patient’s well-being. Since COVID cases and hospitalizations are both trending downward, we feel it is safe to expand visitation at Foothills Hospital. Patients can now have two adult visitors per day between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. Once at the hospital, those visitors may not leave and return. You can get more detailed information on our visiting policies here.

While the number of Boulder County residents vaccinated against COVID-19 grows every week, it’s important to remember that a vaccinated person may still be able to spread the virus to others. That’s why all of us need to continue wearing masks, washing our hands and social distancing. Our community is safer and healthier because of your continued commitment to those important actions.

Sincerely,
Dr. Robert Vissers
President and CEO, Boulder Community Health