At his news conference Friday, Gov. Jared Polis walked through how Coloradans 70 and older can get signed up for a COVID vaccines with some of the state’s largest systems. He said that generally, hospitals have started contacting patients — by phone, email or through the hospital’s internal messaging systems.
Half of the vaccinations that’ll be delivered to older Coloradans will come from the state’s hospitals. Another 20% will come from community health centers, 10% will be administered by retail pharmacies, and a final 20% will come from local health agencies and their community partners.
Some of the facilities are focusing on their current or recent patients, though Polis said that those over 69 can schedule appointments with those systems to become established and enter the pool to receive the vaccine. Polis encouraged anyone who receives those emails or phone calls to double check and make sure they’re actually from the hospital or system and not a scam masquerading as official communications.
Note that for now, these various scheduling methods are reserved for those who qualify under the current state priorities. For the next several weeks, that group is almost exclusively those over 69 years old.
To sign up for vaccines from UCHealth, older Coloradans should go to the system’s patient portal — essentially a messaging and online record-keeping platform for patients. You can login or get more information at UCHealth’s COVID-specific website. If you haven’t been a UCHealth patient in the past, don’t fret: You can still sign up via the patient portal and put your name in to schedule an appointment. The website to get set up with a new account can be found here.
Denver Health
The hospital is currently making appointments with their current patients or those who’ve been treated the hospital within the past three years, Polis said. Those invitations are also coming via Denver Health’s patient portal, so if you’ve been a patient and are over 70, keep an eye there. If you don’t have an account but are a previous patient, you can register for an account here. Per Denver Health’s website, “tickets” for receiving vaccine were sent out earlier this week.
More information from Denver Health can be found on its website.
Like Denver Health, Centura is prioritizing its recent patients first. The hospital system is reaching out to patients via its secure portal; that process will be used throughout the distribution process, though initially it’s only open for those over 69 years of age. The process is randomized, according to Centura’s website, to ensure equitable distribution. That portal can be found here and more information from Centura can be found here.
Centura is “working on our plan to make the vaccine available to all members of the community,” details of which are forthcoming. Prospective patients can still make appointments with Centura providers to get established within the system. Centura plans to ramp up its distribution of the vaccine in the coming weeks and is projected to hit 20,000 doses administered per day, Polis said.
The hospital system has different sign ups depending on where you live. For patients at its Summit View hospital, go here. For patients at Banner’s Larimer County facility, click here. For patients at the system’s Morgan County facility, click here. And finally, for the Logan County clinic, go here.
Once you click one of those links, you’ll be prompted with a survey to make sure you qualify for the current priority status. You can then schedule your appointment online.
Kaiser Permanente
Kaiser is operating on a first come, first serve basis, Polis said. If you’re a Kaiser member, you can go here to sign up.
Vail Health
Residents of Eagle County can register at Vail Health’s website here, which includes information about availability and clinics. Vail Health will then send you an email confirming that you’re set.
Boulder Community Health
Polis said the Boulder facility was contacting its patient via its online portal, which is the “quickest and most efficient way” to get scheduled for a vaccine. You can log in or sign up for that portal here. You don’t need to be a current patient of Boulder Community Health in order to register.
SCL Health
The system is in the process of contacting its patients who are 70 and older and are receiving care from an SCL facility. Information has been emailed to those patients, which include details on how to use SCL’s patient portal. You can get more information about the system’s vaccine efforts here and you can visit the patient portal here.
This content was originally published here.
