Colorado is close to the top by vaccination of people over the age of 65 with the COVID-19 vaccine, but in the middle of the pack in the overall population – Denver Post

Three months after the deployment of the COVID-19 vaccine, it’s clear that Colorado has vaccinated more elderly people than most states, but whether the state has reached other states or shots efficiently. It is much more difficult to evaluate what was used for.

Colorado ranks ninth in the nation in terms of the percentage of people aged 65 and over who are fully vaccinated with a single dose of Johnson & Johnson’s one-shot vaccine or with both Pfizer’s or Moderna’s two-shot regimens. I will. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

However, when comparing the overall proportion of a fully protected population, the state ranks 21st. According to CDC data, about 45% of Coloradans aged 65 and over are fully vaccinated, compared to about 12.5% ​​of the general population.

The gap can narrow as Colorado opens its qualifications to a wider group of people. Go to Phase 1 B.4 Friday of the vaccine distribution plan.

Currently, people over the age of 50, or those in chronic health who are at increased risk of severe COVID-19, are eligible for vaccination in Colorado. The same is true for key workers who were not included in the previous phase.

Phase 1 B.4: Who can get the COVID-19 vaccine from March 19th?

As of Thursday, 1.3 million people in Colorado were vaccinated once and 791,238 were fully vaccinated, according to state health data.

According to some experts, vaccination of a higher proportion of older people than the general population reflects Colorado leaders’ decisions about who to prioritize and is not necessarily related to shot distribution. I’m not pointing out the problem.

Colorado began in December and gradually qualifies people over 70, 65, and 60 after the first phase of the state, including high-risk health care workers and residents of nursing homes and long-term care facilities. A limited group of open and frontline workers.

Governor Jared Polis says vaccination of people at greatest risk of becoming seriously ill or dying from the coronavirus will completely restart the economy without causing another wave that could overwhelm the hospital. It is repeatedly stated that it is the fastest method of.

“Our goal is to distribute vaccines efficiently and fairly to ensure that vulnerable and underserved people are reached throughout the state. This is the COVID in the state. It also includes an early focus on older people over the age of 70, who account for 78% of deaths from illness, “health and environment said in a statement.

Relation: How to get a COVID-19 vaccine appointment in Colorado

Nirangian Chatterjee, a professor of biostatistics and epidemiology at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, said it was actually a good sign if more older people than the general population were vaccinated. .. ..

Prioritizing older people may slow the pace of distribution slightly compared to vaccination of those who appear, but it increases the lives saved by supplying limited doses, he said. He said.

“Colorado seems to be prioritizing and doing a better job than some states,” Chatterjee said.

Age composition, development of population influence

Very few states have been able to vaccinate above average rates for both the general population and the elderly.

One is Connecticut, which has the 14th largest population over the age of 65 in 2018, so vaccination of the majority of older people will reach a larger part of the population. About 14% of Colorado’s population was over 65 years old. 5th youngest state..

The other three states, Alaska, North Dakota, and South Dakota, which perform well in both the general and elderly populations, have a population of less than one million. Four of the ten states that have vaccinated the largest proportion of residents of all ages have a population of less than one million, and of these ten states, only Connecticut has more than three million. I will.

Vaccine allocation may have been further advanced in less populated states. This meant that we didn’t have to manage shortages as we did in populous states. He said it would be fairer to compare vaccinated states in a similar proportion of the total population to see how well they reached the states they needed most.

“It doesn’t necessarily reflect that prioritization worked,” he said.

Some have pointed out that the rate at which the state can weaponize vaccines is a possible factor, but that doesn’t seem to matter.

As of Monday, Colorado received 82.5% of the vaccine it received and was ranked 25th. However, Alaska, which reached a higher proportion of the population, administered only about 71.4%.

A state health bureau spokeswoman said he couldn’t comment on why he was vaccinated more without knowing how some states would distribute doses and report data.

“We are taking close to the entire vaccine allocation each week and are ready to take more when the federal government increases supply,” she said.

Dr. Georges Benjamin, Secretary-General of the American Society of Public Health, said that COVID-19 vaccine dosing rates have been delayed, given the delay in reporting data and the consistent demand for injections over supply in all states. He said the difference might not make sense. ..

In Colorado, vaccine providers notify the state of the number of doses used within 72 hours, which can delay tracking the speed of dosing.

“I think the overall problem was the lack of dose,” Benjamin said.

State is now “offscript”

Trying to understand whether state policy is helping or hurt vaccination efforts is different from comparing apples and oranges. It’s like looking at the entire produce section, with some frozen and canned foods put in.

Only three states correctly followed the CDC’s guidance on who would be vaccinated first, and did not move the group up or down as appropriate. These three states are among the top 10 vaccinations for the entire population, Hawaii and the bottom 10. Depending on the state, coverage varies by county.

Alaska and Mississippi have already made promises to anyone over the age of 16. Utah will do the same on Wednesday.. Alaska immunizes more people than any other state, and both Utah and Mississippi are in the bottom ten, so they don’t seem to respond to common triggers. Hmm.

According to Benjamin, almost all states prioritized nursing homes and hospitals, but then began to take different paths, depending on local needs and political pressure. How many people in different groups were vaccinated reflects the state’s decision, he said.

“The state is, to some extent, out of the script,” he said.

It’s clear that some policy choices have paid off, such as the decision that West Virginia relies on local pharmacies rather than chains, Benjamin said. However, in other cases it is difficult to determine who is doing the best or why.

Unfair vaccine distribution

Colorado and most other states have stated that they will prioritize the color communities that have caused disproportionate numbers of deaths from COVID-19.

However, the comparison is unreliable because seven states do not publish the data and other states collect data from a small number of vaccinated people.

Colorado leaders Permitted unfair distribution.. “It’s clearly unacceptable to have this kind of disparity here in Colorado,” Police said at a press conference in January.