3/17/21 Otero/Crowley County Health Department Covid Update
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Description: 3/17/21 Otero/Crowley County Health Department Covid Update.
THIS IS A RAPIDLY EVOLVING AND FLUID SITUATION. INFORMATION AND ACTION ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE AT ANY TIME. BE PREPARED TO BE FLEXIBLE AND PATIENT.
The situations, numbers, website links, data, and etc. described below were current as of Wednesday 3/17/2021 at 9:59 am.
PLEASE DISTRIBUTE THIS WIDELY
3/17/2021 Crowley/Otero COVID-19 Update #1: Crowley County Protect Our Neighbors (PON) Application; Vaccination Phase 1B.4 Opening Soon
Please take the time to read and understand this entire message.
Internet links: Before I send out each update, I check the links to make sure they are active. However, links do change from time to time, so the links I sent out today may not be the same tomorrow. You may have to search around a bit.
Hello to all, below are a couple of mid-week COVID-19 updates for you.
1. Yesterday (Tuesday, 3/16/2021) I submitted Crowley County’s Protect Our Neighbors (PON) application to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE). Please remember, this application must be approved by CDPHE, and until that happens Crowley is still in Blue Level.
2. COVID-19 Vaccination Phase 1B.4 opens officially this Friday, 3/19/2021. But, you can register NOW at ochdvaxnow.com
Here is the eligibility list for Phase 1B.4 (taken directly from the CDPHE website Find out when you're eligible for a COVID-19 vaccine | Colorado COVID-19 Updates):
People age 50 and older, frontline workers, people with high risk conditions, and the continuation of operations for state government and continuity of local government:
· People age 50 and older.
· Frontline workers in the following fields:
o Higher education: The intent of this classification is to prioritize current educators who work in close contact with many people especially indoors, including all student-facing staff in community colleges and colleges. Student-facing staff includes instructors, professors, vocational educators and staff providing safety and other support services offered inside the school.
o Food/restaurant services: The intent of this classification is to prioritize current workers who cannot maintain physical distance from others at their place of employment, who work in close contact with many people, especially indoors, including but not limited to restaurant cooks, dishwashers, servers, and other workers in restaurant settings; and food pantry/assistance workers.
o Manufacturing: The intent of this classification is to prioritize workers in manufacturing settings who cannot maintain physical distance from others at their place of employment and workers who work in close contact with many people, especially indoors and in places with poor ventilation.
o US postal service: The intent of this classification is to prioritize current workers who work for the US postal service in positions where they cannot maintain physical distance at work and work in close contact with many people, especially indoors. This includes post office clerks and mail sorters.
o Public transit and specialized transportation: The intent of this classification is to prioritize current workers in public transit and who have specialized transportation staff who cannot maintain physical distance from others at their place of employment, workers who work in close contact with many people especially indoors including but not limited to bus drivers, specialized transportation staff who work in our tunnels, specialized transportation staff such as air traffic controllers, train conductors, pilots, and airline stewards.
o Public health: The intent of this classification is to prioritize current workers in governmental public health agencies with public facing duties and heightened risk of exposure. This includes public health and environment staff, including inspectors, engaged in direct public health service delivery.
o Human service workers: The intent of this classification is to prioritize current workers who cannot maintain physical distance at their place of employment in the course of their work, such as those who work in close contact with other people, especially indoors. This includes but is not limited to social workers, community health workers, those who work in client homes, in community locations, and at human services work locations, and others who provide direct or in-person services to elderly and disabled populations, at domestic violence advocacy organizations, or in-person resource providers.
o Faith leaders: The intent of this classification is to prioritize those who in the course of leading faith services cannot easily maintain physical distance and must come into close contact with other people indoors. This includes current faith leaders who must enter hospitals or other care facilities to perform last rites, who officiate life rites such as weddings and baptisms, and who lead worship services.
o Direct care providers for Coloradans experiencing homelessness: The intent of this classification is to prioritize workers who work in close contact with many other people, especially indoors, including but not limited to those who work and provide direct services in shelters for people experiencing homelessness.
o Journalists: The intent of this classification is to prioritize journalists who in the course of their work cannot easily maintain physical distance and come into contact with the public in the course of their work while conducting interviews or covering live events, especially indoors.
· Continuity of local government: The intent of this classification is to ensure the continuity of county, municipal and other local governments. It includes select executives of those governments and a limited amount of essential support staff needed to provide for continuity of government, including members of the judicial branch who regularly come into contact with the public (e.g. state and county court trial judges, court administrators, public defenders and probation staff.)
· Continuation of operations for state government: The intent of this classification is to ensure the continuity of essential state government services. It includes select staff needed to deliver essential services to the people of Colorado , as identified in the agencies’ continuity of operations plans.
· People age 16 to 49 with one of the following higher risk conditions: The intent of this classification is to vaccinate Coloradans who have risk of severe outcomes from COVID-19. It includes Coloradans with one condition listed in 1B.3 or asthma (moderate-to-severe), Cerebrovascular disease (affects blood vessels and blood supply to the brain), Cystic fibrosis, Hypertension or high blood pressure, Immunocompromised state (weakened immune system) from blood or bone marrow transplant, immune deficiencies, HIV, use of corticosteroids, or use of other immune weakening medicines, Neurologic conditions, such as dementia, Liver disease, Pulmonary fibrosis (having damaged or scarred lung tissues), Thalassemia (a type of blood disorder).
· Adults who received a placebo during a COVID-19 vaccine clinical trial.
OCHD is planning mass vaccination clinics for next week, and we will be using the Pfizer vaccine. Information on this vaccine can be found here: Coronavirus COVID-19 Vaccine Update: Latest Developments | Pfizer
Here is a good side-by-side comparison of the currently approved vaccines from the Association of State and Territorial Health officials (ASTHO): https://astho.org/COVID-19/
Don’t wait, if you qualify please register for your COVID-19 vaccination NOW!
Until next time,
Richard Ritter, Executive Director
Otero County Health Department
13 West 3rd Street, Room 111
La Junta, Colorado 81050
719-383-3045 (Office)
719-383-3060 (Fax)
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