Finally — Colorado has reached Phase 2 of the COVID vaccine distribution. Governor Jared Polis announced Monday in a press conference that starting on Friday, April 2, Colorado can move onto Phase 2 of its COVID-19 vaccination distribution which is vaccination availability for the general public ages 16 and older.
Chaffee County Public Health (CCPH) has available appointments for the general public at this Friday’s vaccination clinic at the Chaffee County Fairgrounds, 10165 County Rd 120 in Salida.
“If ever there was a time to consider getting fully vaccinated, it’s now. While our state and local COVID-19 incidence, hospitalizations, and deaths have plateaued, we are seeing pockets of a resurgence in other counties, some of which have moved to a less protective environment prematurely,” said Chaffee County Public Health Director and local COVID-19 Incident Commander Andrea Carlstrom. “In addition, we have witnessed plenty of out-of-county and state visitors take advantage of the ease of getting a vaccine is in our county.”
Chaffee County Public Health has streamlined the COVID-19 drive-through vaccination process at the Chaffee Fairgrounds since it began using it for the drive-up coronavirus testing last year. Now CCPH can do hundreds of vaccinations a day. Dan Smith photo.
Phase 2-eligible residents can now register by going to www.chaffeecounty.rsvpify.com.
Pfizer will be the vaccine distributed, which is authorized for ages 16 and older. People registering must be able to return for the second dose on Friday, April 23. The Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines are authorized for ages 18 and older, so it is important to know which vaccine will be given ahead of time.
In the upcoming days, the general public in Chaffee County should see additional vaccination clinics and appointments by numerous providers to meet local demand. Large-scale vaccination sites are also scheduled throughout the state, including El Paso and Pueblo Counties.
“Our intent is to ensure that everyone aged 16 and older in Chaffee County gets vaccinated as soon as possible, so registering when there are clinics scheduled and appointments available with any local provider is critical,” added Carlstrom. “This welcomed announcement is a sign that we are closer to getting our lives back after more than a year of sacrifices. However, the key to this is full vaccination and we have many appointments available at this Friday’s CCPH clinic at the Fairgrounds.”
In the meantime, CCPH is reminding county residents, county businesses, and our visitors that it is imperative to protect our county’s investment in public safety and our reopening progress by continuing to wear a facemask, physical distance, and stay home when symptomatic.
While the county is currently listed as “Blue” on the state’s COVID-19 risk dial, a sudden resurgence of cases, after the county has come so far, could jeopardize that dial position and return Chaffee County to more strict public health orders. It could also endanger the county’s critical summer season.
Our town is full of spring breakers and those from virus hotspots traveling against CDC recommendations and we once again have rental owners soliciting their travel. My partner is a clerk on Rt. 50. There is no shortage of these selfish people and so I believe when they come into a business with no mask and coughing the businesses should be reported. Risking all of our progress and the lives of employees and families and customers to ‘be nice’ to tourists who should not be here in the first place is not being nice to locals and is risking them and all of our progress in the long run. We are still being sacrificed here in Chaffee for tourism given the anti-maskers and anti-vaccine problems we have here from those willing to sacrifice others for their so-called rights to bear arms and their right to be an unpatriotic irresponsible citizen and loudly and proudly risk others for their pretense and worse, their profit. They care not about the constitution, but in maintaining their lifestyle no matter who or what they harm and arguing or discussing this with them is not possible. Report them and don’t go back to their business until they are responsible to the members of this community and stop risking us for profit.
There are community concerns about those visitors to the county coming from states that have dropped their public health and safety protections, who refuse to follow our public health orders. That said, our own state is likely to turn public health order management back to the counties by mid-April. That could lead to an exceedingly difficult and dangerous period when the county’s sincere efforts to control the COVID-19 virus here may be tested as Colorado and its 64 counties rush to vaccine enough people to achieve the protection of herd immunity.
That said, businesses have always had the right to post their public health order requirements (wearing a shirt, shoes, a facemask, using hand sanitizer, etc) on their premises at entry. If people do not comply, that business can call law enforcement regarding trespass; not to enforce the public health order, but to enforce trespass of their businesses by those not following their conditions of entry. That said, you should know that there are businesses, at lest one large one on U.S. 50 that doesn’t enforce face-maskwearing among it’s own employees.