Update on COVID-19 Vaccine Distribution

Boulder Community Health (BCH) President & CEO Rob Vissers, M.D. provided an email update on Jan. 27, 2021 to community members.

The roll-out of COVID-19 vaccines is well underway in Boulder County. People are elated that these vital tools for ending the pandemic are available locally, but also frustrated that distribution is not happening as quickly as some had hoped.

Sadly, ongoing news reports about national problems with vaccine distribution have been accurate. According to Boulder County Public Health, the entire state of Colorado only receives about 60,000 doses per week from the federal government. Only about 3,000 doses make their way to Boulder County. (Keep in mind that the county’s population is just under 330,000.) While the county’s hospitals and clinics make weekly requests for vaccine from the state, how much we get and when we receive it changes from week to week.

BCH is being as aggressive as possible with vaccination scheduling, but this ongoing uncertainty about vaccine supplies limits how many people we can schedule each week. Once we consistently receive more vaccine, we can notify more local residents to make appointments.

As of Friday morning (Jan. 22), BCH had vaccinated 9,978 people in the State’s initial priority groups — health care workers, first responders, and residents age 70 and older. About 17% of that group have received both doses. The others have received their initial dose and scheduled their appointment for the final dose.

Vaccination for People Age 70 and Older

Colorado is currently making a full-court press to vaccinate residents age 70 and older. As of Friday morning (Jan. 22), BCH had given 7,041 seniors their first dose of vaccine and another 5,620 had appointments scheduled at our vaccination clinic. However, there are about 30,000 Boulder County residents age 70 and older, so it may take a couple months to finish vaccinating that group, depending on the supply of vaccine.

BCH is not compiling waiting lists for vaccination. However, residents age 70 and older can take important action now to be notified when they are eligible to schedule an appointment to receive vaccine.

The quickest and most efficient way to get vaccinated by BCH is through the MyBCH patient portal, which provides Boulder County residents with unrestricted access to vaccination scheduling — you do not need to be a BCH patient to set up a free 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.

General questions about setting up the account should be sent to this email — MyBCH@bch.org

You will be notified when you are eligible to schedule an appointment through an email from MyBCH.

We have set up a call center specifically to help 70-and-older residents register for vaccination. Eligible seniors can call 303-415-7777 Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. – 5 p.m. As you’d expect, we are getting lots of calls, so it will take time to respond to all inquiries. We appreciate your patience.

You can find more information on BCH’s plan for vaccinating 70-and-older people here.

Vaccination for Other Groups

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.

While it will be some time before frontline workers and people younger than 70 can get vaccine, we encourage you to set up a free MyBCH account now since it is the quickest and most efficient way to get vaccinated by BCH. The MyBCH patient portal provides Boulder County residents with 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.

You can find regular updates on the BCH vaccination program at bch.org/COVIDvaccine

Managing Emotional Stress Caused by Coronavirus

We recognize that the pandemic has created tremendous emotional stress for many people. BCH’s Center for Mind-Body Medicine is hosting an online support group that teaches skills that can help alleviate anxiety and feelings of isolation. The group will meet the next three Wednesdays from 6:15 to 7:15 p.m. Each week will focus on a different mindfulness skill. You can register here.

Vaccine Safety and Effectiveness

There’s intense interest in understanding more about the COVID vaccines. We encourage you to watch a thorough and valuable presentation from Dr. Mark King and Dr. Amie Meditz of BCH’s Beacon Center for Infectious Diseases. The presentation — available here — includes information on how the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines work, side effects, and much more. We encourage you to watch their presentation and then share the link with family and friends in other communities.

While the vaccine rollout is a vital step in our fight against COVID-19, it’s important to remember that mask wearing and social distancing continue to be critical components in this fight. We thank you for your sustained commitment to those important actions.