DENVER (KDVR) — Despite fears and frustrations, Colorado’s most vulnerable populations are getting higher shares of vaccines as time goes by, not fewer.
Colorado has seen some public backlash this week since the state opened vaccinations to school teachers and those over 65 years old. The overwhelming majority of COVID-19 deaths happen to those over 70 years old, a fact the administration says it keeps in sharp focus.
The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment’s officials said during a press conference Wednesday that it has vaccinated just over half the state’s 70+ population, or 73% of its goal of vaccinating 70% of Coloradans in that age group by the end of the month. Vaccination efforts will continue prioritizing this age group.
After receiving emails from concerned seniors and their family members, Data Desk looked into the available vaccination info to see what is really happening.
These graphs have small bump that occurs Jan. 25, when the state underwent a large data update. Data Desk has inquired about this irregularity with CDPHE and will update the story when provided an answer.
Despite this anomaly, the state’s vaccinations reveals a steady trend. More and more of the state’s vaccines are going to Coloradans age 70 and older.
Health department records did not begin tracking demographic information until Jan. 21. The amount of vaccines Colorado has administered since then has doubled from 400,000 to just under 800,000.
The total number of daily vaccines going to 70+ Coloradans went up with it. They had received 158,408 vaccines on Jan. 21. By Feb. 8, that had more than doubled to 392,824.
The share of vaccines administered to 70+ Coloradans has also gone up.
On Jan. 21, the over 70 age group had received just 39% of Colorado’s vaccines. By Feb. 8, that share had risen to 50%.
Correspondingly, younger age groups are getting a smaller share of the vaccines despite younger age group-heavy professions such as educators and health care professionals being pushed ahead in line. The 30-39 age group, for instance, had received 15% of vaccines by Jan. 21, but as the number of total vaccines went up that number shrank to 12% by Feb. 8.