New Colorado Team Assembled To Get COVID Vaccine More Efficiently To Minority Communities

(CBS4) - Gov. Jared Polis gave Coloradans an update on Friday on the fight against the coronavirus pandemic. One big issue the state of Colorado is addressing, he said, is getting the COVID vaccine to members of the state's minority communities.

"No matter where you live, who you are, where you're from, what you do ... we want to make sure you get the vaccine as quickly and efficiently as our supplies will allow," Polis said.

There is now a Colorado COVID-19 vaccine outreach team in place, and their strategy is to ensure vaccines are equally distributed and accessible in low income and minority communities. That includes getting vaccines to pharmacies in underserved areas.

Right now 15% of the state's weekly vaccines are going to community clinics and another 10% are allocated for "vaccine deserts," which are areas that don't have health care facilities. That's where the team is planning pop-up clinics. They have also launched bilingual commercials explaining the effectiveness and safety of the vaccine.

Data shows about 80% of Coloradans getting the vaccine are white.

"It's clearly unacceptable to have this kind of disparity in Colorado. That's why we're aggressively taking this on. That includes the vaccine resistance that we face in communities of color, you saw these new campaigns that are being launched. It also includes making sure we're taking every step we can to be in community health clinics, to be in underserved communities."

The state is also partnering with Lyft and RTD to get people to clinics, as transportation is also a barrier for some to access to the vaccine.