About 40,000 older Coloradans will get their first COVID-19 shot a few weeks earlier than initially planned after the state on Monday ordered providers to stop holding back second doses.
In a letter sent to vaccine providers, Gov. Jared Polis directed hospitals and others to stop holding back doses for current patients’ second shots. Both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines require two doses, spaced three or four weeks apart, respectively.
Polis estimated that the doses currently held in reserve for future weeks will allow about 40,000 more people to get vaccinated this week. The state expects about 83,000 doses to arrive this week, meaning more than 120,000 people can get their first shot, he said.
People who are due for their second dose can receive it as scheduled, Polis said. If unexpected delays in vaccine supplies come later, hospitals can reduce their first doses to ensure everyone gets a second dose on time, the letter said.
The plan essentially shifts the 40,000 people forward a few weeks, because the second doses that had been held in reserve will have to be taken out of shipments in upcoming weeks. The announcement Monday doesn’t change the timeline of having 70% of people who are 70 and older vaccinated by the end of February, the governor said.
“We will apply the second doses in the week they’re needed,” Polis said in an interview with The Denver Post. “There’s no excuse not to protect as many 70 and up (residents) as possible a week or two earlier.”
Nationwide, the first weeks of the vaccination rollout were bumpy, with states reporting they received fewer doses than promised, and Pfizer blaming it on a lack of direction from the federal government. The federal government allocates vaccines to the states based on population, then leaves it up to them to decide how to distribute the shots.
Initially, the federal government reported it was stockpiling second doses, to ensure the second shot would be available to those who got the first one. Trump administration officials announced last week that they would send out that stockpile to allow states to give more first doses, but it came to light Friday that the stockpile no longer existed.
Polis said he and others have more confidence that additional doses will be shipped regularly than they did in the first weeks, so it no longer makes sense to hold onto vials instead of using them immediately.
“There’s more reliability in the supply chain now,” he said.
Monday’s letter is the first guidance from the state on how to manage second doses. Dr. Simon Hambidge, chief ambulatory officer at Denver Health, said Friday that hospital systems were having to decide whether to hold back second shots themselves, because the state hadn’t laid out a plan.
People working in public health have debated whether it’s better to try to get a first shot to as many people as possible, even if that means deferring the second shot, or to stick with the manufacturers’ protocols, Hambidge said. The question hinges on whether giving more people a somewhat lower level of protection will save more lives than giving 95% protection to fewer people, he said.
“Everyone’s grappling with it,” he said. “There’s no clear public health answer.”
Colorado ranks 10th in the country for shots distributed compared to population, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s vaccination tracker. As of Monday afternoon, the state reported 278,686 people had received their first shot, and 49,744 had received both doses.
"use" - Google News
January 19, 2021 at 04:00AM
https://ift.tt/38TeRqM
Colorado orders hospitals to use second doses of COVID-19 vaccine now - The Denver Post
"use" - Google News
https://ift.tt/2P05tHQ
https://ift.tt/2YCP29R
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "Colorado orders hospitals to use second doses of COVID-19 vaccine now - The Denver Post"
Post a Comment