PUEBLO — Complaints are sprouting up on Facebook and from News5 viewers about the transition of Pueblo County's vaccination clinic from the Pueblo Mall to the new drive-up clinic at the Colorado State Fairgrounds.
Updates for the Community Vaccination Site at the State Fairgrounds from Centura.
Posted by Pueblo Department of Public Health and Environment on Wednesday, March 24, 2021
Comments on the post above include frustrated community members trying to complete the vaccination process, claiming the community clinic has gone "downhill" since it was taken over by Centura Health on March 22 in partnership with Governor Jared Polis' Vaccines for All program.
Multiple comments also claim that the Pueblo County Health Department was doing a "FANTASTIC job" when located at the Pueblo Mall.
Three separate viewers emailed News5 within the last week with concerns about how the clinic at the State Fairgrounds is functioning. Patricia Harvey waited in line for roughly three hours on March 22nd to receive her second dose.
“The first experience at the Pueblo mall was so optimistic!” said Harvey, comparing the two clinics.
Harvey says when she got to the front of the line "There were people waiting to vaccinate. The vaccinators had nothing to do. Several of them, they were just standing there, and that was a shame with several hundred people in line.”
Centura Health was not able to provide and interview, but did send News5 a statement about the complaints.
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Colorado is opening up vaccine eligibility to all residents 16 and older on Friday, expanding access to the general public ahead of the state's earlier goal of mid-April, Gov. Jared Polis announced on Monday.
Polis said it could still take up to 6-8 weeks for members of the general to receive a vaccine appointment. But by the end of May, anyone who wants the vaccine should be able to receive a dose, Polis estimated.
Coloradans 16 and older will be eligible for the Pfizer vaccine. Eligibility for Moderna and the one-dose Johnson & Johnson will be for Coloradans 18 and older.
As of Monday, 1,579,599 Coloradans have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine and 999,618 Coloradans have been fully vaccinated. Vaccine access is currently open to anyone 50 and older, along with certain essential workers, such as grocery store and restaurant employees, along with frontline journalists.
The state has also opened several mass community vaccination sites at Dick's Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City, the Grand Junction Convention Center, the Broadmoor World Arena in Colorado Springs, The Ranch Events Complex in Larimer County and the State Fairgrounds in Pueblo.
A mass vaccination site at Denver's Ball Arena will open on Thursday.
Here's information shared by the state on how to sign up for the community vaccination sites (not all links are active yet):
- Adams County - Dick's Sporting Goods Park
- Sunday - Wednesday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
- Register: centura.org/covid-19-vaccine-information/vaccine-events
- Call: 720-263-5737
- El Paso County - Broadmoor World Arena
- Friday - Monday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
- Register: centura.org/covid-19-vaccine-information/vaccine-events
- Call: 720-263-5737
- Mesa County - Grand Junction Convention Center
- Monday - Friday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
- Register: health.mesacounty.us/covid19/vaccine
- Larimer County - The Ranch Events Complex
- Monday - Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
- Register: larimerhealth.secure.force.com/Vaccine
- Pueblo County - Colorado State Fairgrounds
- Friday - Monday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
- Register: centura.org/covid-19-vaccine-information/vaccine-events
- Call: 720-263-5737
This page on the state's COVID-19 website has links to each vaccine provider and information on how to sign up.
As with Colorado's other vaccine phases, the expanded access comes as the state continues to receive more vaccine doses from the federal government.
Colorado this week will receive 422,090 doses, according to Brigadier General Scott Sherman, who is coordinating Colorado's vaccine distribution. The state will receive at least 372,540 doses next week and at least 391,260 doses the week of April 11.
