Colorado State Fairgrounds vaccine site reopens Friday, faces initial problems

PUEBLO, Colo. (KRDO) -- The new regional mass vaccination clinic at the Colorado State Fairgrounds in Pueblo is set to reopen on Friday with progress toward a lofty vaccination goal.

Centura Health and COVIDCheck Colorado are running the clinic. Starting at 10 a.m., the clinic will begin providing first doses to those that qualify to receive the COVID-19 vaccine in Colorado.

The clinic first opened its doors on Monday, providing doses only to those who already received their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine at the Pueblo Mall vaccination site. Centura Health anticipated they would vaccinate around 560 people on Monday.

Governor Jared Polis said the seven new regional clinics, including the clinic at the Colorado State Fairgrounds, will have the capability to administer around 6,000 doses a day. However, Centura told KRDO they hope to only administer around 1,500 people on Friday.

The state moved the vaccination clinic from the Pueblo Mall to the Colorado State Fairgrounds so they can meet the Governor's goal of 6,000 doses a day.

Centura Health says they may not be hitting the mark right now, but the infrastructure at the fairgrounds will provide them the space to do so.

"I think we can get more people through here," said Mike Mike Cafasso the CEO at St. Mary Corwin. "The grounds can hold a lot more by way of trafficking cars."

However, hitting their dosage goals isn't the only issue at the Colorado State Fairgrounds. On Monday, recipients were forced to wait in line for hours to receive their second dose of the vaccine.

"I was told I'd be out of here within minutes," said Jimmy Archuleta while he was in line at the fairgrounds. "Two hours later, I am still here."

"It was a lot faster [at the Pueblo Mall]," said Erlinda Richard while she waited hours in line. "It took 45 minutes to get my shot there."

At the fairgrounds, 10 vaccination stations are set up to administer COVID-19 vaccines. On Monday, only five stations were operational.

According to Dr. Shauna Gulley, the Chief Medical Officer with Centura Health, the wait times were caused by people not setting appointments before coming to the clinic on Monday.

"The plan on Monday was for people to register on site if need be we were able to register 140 people on site," said Dr. Gulley. "That is not our typical practice but with any new process sometimes there are a little bit of growing pains."

For Monday, Centura anticipated around 560 people to come through the new fairgrounds clinic. By the end of the day, they vaccinated 605.

For Friday, Dr. Gulley fully anticipates they'll vaccinate around 1,500 people, without the long lines.

"At our sites that are operational and moving normally we see a very short period of time," said Dr. Gulley. "15 minutes with maybe a 15 minute wait time at the end. So a total of 30 minutes on site to have your vaccine and be home with your family."

Centura's Chief Medical Doctor says the facility at the fairgrounds has the infrastructure and staff already in place to hit the Governor's goal of 6,000 doses a day. Gulley says it all depends on the supply from the federal government.

The vaccine site at the fairgrounds is open every Friday through Monday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

In order to keep the lines moving, all vaccine recipients need to pre-register and set an appointment before arriving at the fairgrounds.

If you have already received your first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine at the Pueblo Mall and have not been contacted by Centura’s vaccine registration partner, Primary Bio, please call 720.263.5737 or 855.882.8065 for assistance.

Qualified Individuals for the vaccine, who haven't received their first dose, may sign up at Centura.org/vaccine.