COVID-19 vaccine inequity, racial disparities still a concern in Boulder County
Feb. 25—Editor's note: An earlier version of this story should have reported that the county's projections on county COVID-19 data come from the Colorado School of Medicine. The story below has been updated.
Vaccine inequity, COVID-19 racial disparities and community ambassadors were the topic of discussion during Boulder County Public Health's weekly virtual community meeting Wednesday. The county also reported 64 new COVID-19 cases but no new deaths or hospitalizations.
During the meeting, BCPH Emergency Management Planner Chris Campbell revealed the community ambassadors that will help address vaccine inequity, COVID-19 cases among minority communities and getting these communities educated about the virus and vaccinations.
Campbell said these community ambassadors will be trained in vaccine safety and effectiveness. He also said they will support the minority community by reaching out to connect these residents to mobile and vaccine clinics, but the new partnerships may evolve as new needs arise.
The six COVID-19 virus and vaccination community ambassadors are:
* El Comité of Longmont, which serves the Hispanic and Latinx communities and focuses on advocacy and equity efforts,
* 2nd Baptist Church, Boulder, a faith-based organization serving communities of color,
* El Paso, Lafayette, a medical clinic serves Hispanic and Latinx patients,
* Out Boulder County, Boulder, which serves the LGBTQ+ community and is focused on advocacy and equity efforts,
* Intercambio, Longmont, which serves Boulder County's minority and immigrant families, and
* El Centro Amistad, Boulder, which serves Hispanic and Latinx communities and immigrant families with support services.
"This is a long-term approach that we will discuss many times — the education component is critical right now in vaccine equity," Campbell said. He also said that these strategies and ambassador partnerships rely on the strong trust these organizations have in their respective communities.
"Vaccine mistrust is rooted in political influence, rushed (development), side effects and long-term effects," Campbell said. He said all of those issues are are key concerns that must be addressed in a language these various communities understand best.
The county will host town-hall style community meetings to address equity topics, concerns and issues and to ask for feedback from the wider community in the near future. They will also create spaces in which English and Spanish speakers and members of the HIV+ community can address concerns.
In Wednesday's virtual community COVID-19 meeting, BCPH Executive Director Jeff Zayach told attendees that the county data is trending down into the blue zones on the state dial. He also added new cases, positivity rates and hospitalizations remain stable in Boulder County.
Zayach said he expects county COVID-19 numbers to be below last summer's lows by late March and taper down to nearly no new virus cases by late May. His projections, which come from the Colorado School of Medicine, also indicated that if current vaccination efforts in the county continue or increase, an estimated 600 residents' lives could be saved.
However, these projections also indicate that if the Food & Drug Administration approves the pending emergency use authorization application of Johnson & Johnson's one-shot COVID-19 vaccination within the month, it is possible to save the lives of an additional 400-600 residents. Johnson & Johnson submitted its coronavirus application on Feb. 4, and the FDA is expected to rule on its decision by Saturday.
On Wednesday, Zayach also said estimated transmission control is 83% in the county. The estimated transmissions control data is composed of the previous two weeks' data based on hospitalizations since the beginning of the pandemic. The current data set about control is from county data from Jan. 23 through Feb. 2.
The county also gave more information about what the new mobile COVID-19 vaccine clinics will provide. In the meeting Wednesday, Campbell said mobile clinics will be provided less than 250 coronavirus inoculations a week and the priority population served by them will be those 65 and older, with limited mobility, such as those in independent living accommodations and mountain communities. Community clinics will be given 250 or more weekly dosages and will serve racial, ethnic and minority communities.
Traditional clinics will continue to serve all eligible residents under the state's current Phase 1.A through 1.B.2, pending additional guidance from Gov. Jared Polis. The governor is expected to give updates about Phase 1B.3 on Thursday.
The 64 new cases bring the county's total cases to 18,723. The number of deaths remains unchanged at 246 and the number of hospitalizations remains unchanged at 536. There are 28 residents currently hospitalized with coronavirus. Six residents were discharged Tuesday after receiving COVID-19 treatment.
The University of Colorado Boulder updated its dashboard Wednesday. On Tuesday, there were three positive test results from 147 diagnostic tests and 1,859 monitoring tests. The dashboard showed there are 12 isolation spaces in use, which is 2% of the university's isolation spaces. Since the start of spring testing Jan. 4, there have been 324 positives from 5,081 diagnostic tests and 31,312 monitoring tests.
Boulder Valley School District updated its dashboard Wednesday. The district reported 17 active cases with 240 students and 38 staff members in quarantine.
The St. Vrain Valley School District reported on its dashboard Wednesday 28 active cases, split between 20 students and eight staff. The district has seen a cumulative 604 student cases and 226 staff cases, totaling 830.
Statewide, Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment reported there are 423,558 cases. There have been 5,917 deaths among cases, and of those, 5,837 deaths because of COVID-19 have been recorded. A total of 23,349 people have been hospitalized. Of Colorado's more than 5.7 million people, 2,550,473 people have been tested.
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Vaccine transportation for those with limited mobility
On Wednesday, BCPH provided updated information for residents with limited mobility to arrange transportation to COVID-19 appointments. The county itself does not provide the transportation, but can help direct residents to the appropriate organizations that can help.
Via helps residents 60 and older and adults living with a disability to get to vaccine appointments and registered Via riders can book both trips to get their coronavirus inoculations.
Registered riders can schedule a trip by calling 303-447-9636. If you are not a registered rider, call Via's Mobility Specialists at 303-444-3043 to get signed up. Residents who wish to register can also do so online at viacolorado.org.
Boulder-based Mobility For All also provides the same services. More information can be found on the county's website at bit.ly/3usy3UZ.
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Vaccines administered in Boulder County
* 25,180 received their first vaccine dose
* 25,323 received both doses
* 50,503 received at least one dose
*Updated by the county on Mondays and Thursdays, and live on Wednesdays during the virtual BCPH COVID-19 community meetings
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Boulder Valley School District active cases and quarantines
BVSD elementary schools
* Alicia Sanchez: 1 case; 15 students and 1 staff member quarantined
* Columbine: 2 cases; 53 students and 9 staff members quarantined
* Eldorado PK-8: 1 case; 27 students and 1 staff member quarantined
* High Peaks: 1 case; 20 students and 2 staff members quarantined
* Lafayette: 2 cases; 13 students and 7 staff members quarantined
* Ryan: 1 case; 22 students and 1 staff member quarantined
BVSD middle schools
* Southern Hills: 2 cases; 11 students quarantined
BVSD high schools
* Boulder: 1 case; 5 staff members quarantined
* Broomfield and Fairview: 1 case; 26 students and 5 staff members quarantined
* Broomfield HS Athletics: 1 case; 10 students and 2 staff members quarantined
* Centaurus: 2 cases; 31 students and 5 staff members quarantined
* Fairview: 1 case; 2 students quarantined
* Monarch: 1 case; 10 students quarantined
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St. Vrain Valley School District active cases
SVVSD elementary schools
* Black Rock: 1 student and 1 staff member case
* Blue Mountain: 1 student case
* Fall River: 2 student cases
* Mountain View: 1 staff member case
* Prairie Ridge: 1 student case
* Red Hawk: 1 student and 1 staff member case
* Thunder Valley PK-8: 1 student case
SVVSD middle schools
* Altona: 1 staff member case
* Coal Ridge: 1 student case
* Erie: 1 student case
* Lyons Middle/Senior High: 2 student and 1 staff member cases
* Westview: 1 staff member case
SVVSD high schools
* Erie: 2 student cases
* Frederick: 1 student case
* Longmont: 2 student cases
* Mead: 2 student cases
* Silver Creek: 1 staff member case
* Skyline: 1 student and 1 staff member case
SVVSD other campuses
* LaunchED Virtual Academy: 1 student case
