DENVER — University of Colorado Hospital (UCHealth) is geared up for the state's largest mass vaccination site to date.
After successfully vaccinating 1,000 Coloradans in a drive-through clinic at Coors Field last weekend, UCHealth will administer 10,000 doses of the vaccine total this Saturday and Sunday.
The clinic is open only to individuals 70+ with an appointment and some remaining health-care workers. All 5,000 spots on Saturday are booked, but UCHealth said earlier this week that they were still scheduling appointments for Sunday.
"It was a very efficient way to vaccinate patients," said Dr. Richard Zane, the chief innovation officer of UCHealth. "We received tremendous feedback from our patients about how smoothly it went and how happy they were with the experience."
According to Zane, the most important lesson learned last weekend was the need for timed appointments.
"This would not work with a walk-in, first-come first-served system as we've seen in other states where it's really been bedlam," he said.
While 5,000 vaccines administered in one day might sound ambitious, Zane said UCHealth is in fact able to do that and more were it not for limited supply.
"We believe we could probably vaccinate 8,000 people in one day and 16,000 in a weekend, but the supply of vaccine is the single biggest challenge," he said.
>Video below: UCHealth ready for another mass COVID vaccination event this weekend
Individuals receiving the vaccine will not have a choice between the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine and neither does UCHealth. Zane said they administer what the state provides, which has mostly been the Pfizer vaccine.
"We seem to be allocated more Pfizer than we are Moderna," he said. "I think because we have the logistical and operational experience to be able to deliver the Pfizer vaccine, which has those logistical challenges."
Those who are not UCHealth patients and who don’t have access to a computer or smartphone can call the UCHealth COVID-19 Vaccine Hotline at 720-462-2255 to be added to the list. Once on the list, people will get a phone call about scheduling the vaccine.
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