State-run free vaccine sites shut down as around 35% of El Paso County has not completed vaccine process
EL PASO CO., Colo. (KRDO) -- By the end of Thursday, 13 separate COVID-19 community vaccination sites funded by the state will close shop in Colorado, including three sites in southern Colorado.
"By March 31, 2022, the state of Colorado will transition from offering COVID-19 vaccines through state-run community vaccination sites to traditional health care settings. This step is part of the state’s Roadmap to Moving Forward," the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment said on its website.
El Paso County will lose the community vaccine sites at the Citadel Mall and Chapel Hills Mall, while Pueblo County will be losing its site at the Pueblo Mall. All three sites offered doses of the COVID-19 vaccine for free to anyone, whether they possessed health care insurance or not.
CDPHE says it will still provide vaccine equity through its mobile vaccine buses.
Health officials tell KRDO that unvaccinated populations will still have more than enough access to the COVID vaccine if they change their minds.
"We have more than 100 providers in El Paso County," said Kristi Durbin, the Immunization Program Manager for El Paso County Public Health. "Whether that is primary care doctors, pharmacies, or here at the Health Department."
El Paso County Public Health will continue to provide free vaccine doses at its offices to anyone who schedules an appointment. To schedule an appointment you are directed to go to El Paso County Public Health's website, or call its offices directly at 719-575-3199, option 5.
Durbin says pharmacies or other vaccine providers in the county may or may not be able to provide free vaccines for those without health insurance. It all depends on the individual provider.
"As cases drop the demand does decrease," Durbin said when asked if the state-run community vaccine sites are no longer necessary. "More people are up-to-date on their COVID vaccine. They aren't waiting to get their second dose, they aren't waiting to get their booster. They've already completed that."
Workers at the Citadel Mall site said that their last day open was the busiest it had been since Christmas.
Glenn Reeves was the last person to get a shot before that center closed.
"I think I got lucky to be here," he said. "They told me to get here by 6, and I got here at 5:45. I barely made it. This is my fourth shot."
Meanwhile, there appeared to be no last-minute rush at the Pueblo Mall center, which operated out of a vacant building.
Health officials scrambled to get the free sites open in the early months of the pandemic -- and now, two years later, many of us are hoping the sites will be closed for good.
Or at least until another COVID variant possibly surfaces.
