DENVER – On Friday, Gov. Jared Polis revealed that access to the COVID-19 vaccine will be expanded beginning Feb. 8, leaving some Colorado residents still waiting to receive the vaccine.
“I want all people over the age of 70 to be vaccinated before us, before me.” Marti Demarest said.
Demarest was one of several people who sent an email to Denver7 after Friday’s announcement of Polis.
“Can you make sure everyone over the age of 70 is vaccinated before you open it younger?” Demarest said as he held back his tears.
Since December, Demarest has said she is trying to give her 91-year-old father a COVID-19 vaccine.
“It annoys me, very frustrated, because my husband is enrolled on Sunday for a UCHealth vaccine, but I can’t get my father,” Demarest said. “I look at King Soopers and Safeway, SEL Health Clinic, Banner, UCHealth and Kaiser every day, but I can’t get any information back on where they’re on the list and that was the frustrating part.”
Extended access will begin on February 8 and will include all Coloradans between the ages of 65 and 69, educators and childcare workers.
The state is still working to vaccinate at least 70 percent of residents over the age of 70 by the end of February, Polis said Friday. In response to questions about extended eligibility and how it would impact those currently awaiting the vaccine, Polis said the vaccine distribution needs to be expanded to use the offer.
“It is very important to open it before it reaches 70%. If you wait so long, you will have a period of two or three weeks in which you simply do not take as many doses as you will get, because there are not enough people to you find them that meet the rigid criteria to do it, “Polis said.
He also added that as eligibility expands, the state hopes to have at least half of Colorado’s population, aged 70 and over, vaccinated.
“Some are still enrolled and waiting. If you’re 70, you have friends, parents, loved ones, who are – they’ll get that in the next few weeks,” Polis said.
The Governor’s Office sent Denver7 to this document with additional questions they received about the new timeline.
Demarest said she is trying to remain optimistic that her father will receive a vaccine.
“I will not take one until my father receives one,” Demarest said.