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SUMMIT COUNTY, Colo. (KDVR) — An area in Colorado known for its winter tourism is gaining a reputation for something entirely different: vaccinating the public. 

“We’ve gone above and beyond and everyone that has been able to get one at this time has gotten one,” Director of Summit County Emergency Management Brian Bovaird said. 

Summit County hit a saturation point with its vaccine rollout a couple weeks ago. Bovaird says the county has a relatively small population over the age of 70, and the lack of long term care facilities meant they were able to vaccinate eligible people at a faster rate than the rest of the state.

“We were surprised that our vaccine clinics were not filling up when we had a fair amount of doses,” Bovaird said.

On top of that, Bovaird says the county’s health department had put in years of preparation into this effort, conducting a full-scale exercise for mass vaccinations back in 2017, and refining that plan ever since. 

The county has covered a wide base for vaccinations, with a drive-up vaccination site at the county Bus Barn, local pharmacy and health provider partners, and mobile clinics to reach underserved populations. 

Bovaird said they doubled down on their outreach efforts to make sure people knew of opportunities, but still faced a unique problem: their supply was larger than the demand.

“We obviously notified the state,” Bovaird said.

The state started allocating fewer doses to Summit County, and did not allow them to start vaccinating outside the eligible population. That’s when Bovaird says Public Health Director Amy Wineland reached out to her contacts in neighboring counties.

“They were actually in the opposite position, whereby they weren’t getting as much vaccine and they had people where they could get it in their arms the next day,” Bovaird said.

Bovaird says they reallocated 300 vaccines to Park County and 250 to Clear Creek County. These doses were considered “on the clock” because they can’t be stored for extended periods of time. Bovaird says by helping vaccinate the surrounding population, it helps the state move forward through the phases faster.

“We’re fully on board with the vaccination effort not having 64 different boundaries,” Bovaird said.

Bovaird says the county is preparing to scale up its efforts for when the state is ready to move past Phase 1 and get into larger populations.

Currently, Summit County is using only two out of 14 bays of the Bus Barn in Frisco for it’s drive-thru clinic. He says between fully opening up that operation, and a secondary location, the county has a goal to potentially vaccinate up to 3,000 people in a single day.

Summit County residents age 65 and older, and Summit County teachers will become eligible for vaccine starting Feb. 8. Bovaird says the county’s weekly supply from the state will return to normal levels ahead of that date.