COVID In Colorado: Demand High For Vaccines For Ages 5-11
JEFFERSON COUNTY, Colo. (CBS4)- Demand is high for the COVID-19 Pfizer vaccine for kids in many Colorado counties, showing that many parents across the state are eager to get their kids vaccinated. Jefferson County Public Health officials say in the first two days they've already vaccinated hundreds of kids, and expect to have at least 1,000 kids in the county vaccinated by the first week.
"We're seeing them 100% filled up, and they've been filling up within hours," said Kelly Conroy, the Jefferson County Public Health associate director for clinic services. "We know that for a few weeks here we're going to have demand that outpaces our supply, and we're seeing that already."
Officials told CBS4 the county has about 44,000 kids between ages 5 to 11 in the area. They said it's likely going to take weeks to get every kid vaccinated. The clinics for kids is also looking a little different.
"Those appointments are taking a little bit longer than say someone over the age of 12 or an adult," Conroy said.
This is because of the time it's taking to comfort kids and parents with questions.
While Jefferson County is currently struggling to meet demand, one of Denver's main health care providers, Denver Health has several appointments available. The hospital plans to roll out its vaccines for kids on Monday.
"So we're offering vaccines in our clinic sites, but we're also offering them in our buildings, and so if you can't get in to see a provider and get a vaccine as part of that appointment you should be checking in," said Dr. Joshua Williams, a Denver Health pediatrician.
Williams said the hospital is working with community organizations to make sure kids in marginalized communities are getting the vaccine. And similar to what we saw when the vaccine rolled out for adults, Denver Health said while it has appointments now, they do expect to see a bottleneck in vaccine distribution, but they said patience is key.
"Not to panic," said Williams, "There will be a little bit of waiting in the first few weeks surely, but I suspect that before too long, people who want to get their kids an appointment for a COVID vaccine are going to be able to do so."
Gov. Polis' office sent CBS4 the following statement regarding vaccine demand and equity saying in part, "We are actively reaching out to all the equity-focused community organizations that we initially partnered with to offer combination first dose/booster/5-11 vaccine clinics, knowing the important role these organizations play in helping reach persons of color, medically underserved and hard-to-reach communities. Our goal is to ensure at least one pediatric vaccine clinic is available in every county. We are thrilled that so many parents are already making appointments to get their children ages 5-11 vaccinated. It is the easiest way to protect families, friends and communities. We anticipated initial high demand for the 5-11 vaccine, but we are confident we will have ample supply. The CDC has allocated 171,000 doses to Colorado in this first allocation — about 36% of the 479,895 5-11-year-olds in the state — and we are receiving shipments daily. We expect information about our next allocation very soon."
MORE INFO:
- Children age 5 to 11 years can now get a COVID-19 vaccine at pediatric clinics around the state. Find upcoming clinics for children.
- Beginning November 6, all mobile vaccination clinics will have vaccines for children age 5 to 11. Find an appointment at a mobile vaccination clinic near you.
- Some retail pharmacies like CVS and Walgreens are taking appointments for children age 5 to 11. Find an appointment at a pharmacy near you at Vaccines.gov.
- Some doctor's offices and pharmacies are also now taking vaccine appointments for children. Find a list of COVID-19 vaccine providers for children age 5-11. We will add more providers to this list as they open up appointments. Many providers used Nov. 5 as a planned start date for administering pediatric COVID-19 vaccines, so we anticipate seeing additional appointments made available across the state in the coming days.
