Surprise and confusion among health departments, seniors over vaccine rollout to Coloradans age 70+
Health departments adjusting on the fly, seniors asking where to go and when
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David Zalubowski/AP
Rebecca Hong, a registered nurse who is the assistant nurse manager on the mom/baby unit at Rose Medical Center, draws a shot from a vial of the COVID-19 vaccine from Moderna to administer to an employee in the first round of staff vaCcinations at Rose Medical Center with the Moderna product Wednesday, Dec. 23, 2020, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Colorado health officials concerned about easing virus rules
January 1, 2021 GMT
DENVER (AP) A day after Colorado Gov. Jared Polis announced restrictions for places like restaurants and gyms will be eased in much of the state starting next week, some local public health officials said they were concerned about the move.
The governor cited improving statewide COVID-19 metrics in lifting certain restrictions in 33 counties, including Denver and the entire Front Range, but his announcement on Wednesday came as not all of those counties meet the individual requirements to downgrade restrictions, the Denver Post reported.
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“It appears that if there’s enough pressure from the business and economic forces in the state that we will change the dial to meet those demands and that’s kind of frustrating,” said Mark Johnson, executive director of Jefferson County Public Health.
(via CPDHE)
Colorado health officials say they have confirmed the nation s first case of a COVID-19 variant strain first detected in the United Kingdom.
Public health officials said the infected person is a male in his 20s who lives in Elbert County. They said he has not recently traveled.
This strain of the coronavirus called the B.1.1.7 variant is thought to be more contagious than the original COVID virus, but early indications are it is not more serious in terms of symptoms or outcomes. Medical professionals say they believe the vaccines are effective in preventing it.
“The biggest hope, and most of the experts that I have heard, believe that the vaccine will still be efficacious against this variant,” said Dr. Mark Johnson, the interim director of Jefferson County Public Health. “And that s really what we need to be putting all of our marbles right now, is getting that vaccine out.”
Pandemic, protests & fire December 30 2020
The Madras Pioneer looks back at the top five regional news stories of the year 2020
COVID-19. The pandemic. It defined much of life in Jefferson County and the entire planet in 2020. And it s not over. As we race to get vaccines in arms, we brace for what are expected to be numbing infection and death rates in the early months of 2021.
COVID and its economic and societal impacts touched everyone in 2020, and played a role in nearly all aspects of life. But the year also brought a once-a-century-type windstorm to the county in May and saw one of the largest wildfires in Oregon history spark in August on the Warm Springs Reservation.