The mayors of Denver and Aurora joined nearly three dozen city leaders across the U.S. this week in sending a letter to President-elect Joe Biden asking that the incoming administration give their communities direct access to COVID-19 vaccine supplies and funding to speed up distribution.
The mayors want the Biden administration “to provide cities with greater control and greater flexibility in obtaining vaccine supply and directing distribution, especially to underserved populations and people that don’t have access to a large health care system,” Denver Mayor Michael Hancock said during a news briefing Thursday.
“We will continue to support the state’s plan as much as we are able so these vaccines get to the people who need it the most as quickly as possible,” he added.
So far, vaccine distribution, including decisions about who gets the first doses, has been led by the states. In Colorado, the logistics of getting shots into people’s arms has varied county by county.
The letter, sent Wednesday, also was signed by Aurora Mayor Mike Coffman and 34 other mayors, include those from Los Angeles, New York City, Austin, Texas, and Salt Lake City.
The letter to Biden states that few cities are receiving direct allocations of vaccine, meaning that “the necessary outreach needed to lay the groundwork for your vaccination goals are not being met.” It also asks for additional funding to help the cities do outreach to communities that are “vaccine hesitant.”
Hancock and other city officials did not directly criticize the state’s handling of vaccine distribution, but they noted how slow the rollout has been. And in asking for more local control over distribution, they also are wanting to significantly diverge from the state’s plan by having the city set its own prioritization for who should receive COVID-19 shots and when.
Hancock said the city specifically wants to make people experiencing homelessness a higher priority in distribution of the vaccine.
“We do not have the ability to set our own prioritization, (which is) one reason why we are communicating directly to the state our concern and desire to vaccinate our neighbors experiencing homelessness,” Hancock said.
The state, specifically Gov. Jared Polis, has drawn criticism since revising its phased vaccination plan in early December to no longer prioritize people living in congregate settings, including prisoners and people experiencing homeless — a step that occurred after Polis said incarcerated people should not receive the vaccine before those with underlying health conditions.
“Our bottom line is getting people vaccinated,” said Conor Cahill, spokesman for the governor, in a statement. “If there is any additional vaccine that can be sent to Colorado right away, the Governor doesn’t care whether it goes through the state or cities or pharmacies or hospitals as long as it is used immediately to save lives.”
Representatives the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
A main reason that the vaccine rollout has been slow is because supply through the federal government is severely limited, although it could increase under recent plans announced by both the Trump and Biden administrations to stop withholding doses to ensure people get their second shot.
For now, Colorado receives about 70,000 doses a week. By comparison, there are more than 1.5 million people in Phase 1 of the state health department’s distribution plan.
Distribution of the vaccine is expected to take months, so Coloradans are encouraged to keep washing their hands, wearing masks, staying 6 feet apart and avoiding gatherings.
Health care workers with direct contact to coronavirus patients and long-term care residents and staff were the first groups prioritized by the state for the vaccine. But when Polis moved the state into the second part of Phase 1, which included other health care workers and first responders, he also two added additional groups: essential workers and people 70 and older.
Since then, Colorado’s rollout of the vaccine has been bumpy. The announcement was made before most local public health agencies and health systems had figured out the logistics of how people, especially those 70 and older, could register and get the shots.
The state also did not initially prioritize the groups within Phase 1B, leading some teachers to receive doses earlier than planned.
After the confusion, the state health department divvied up vaccination responsibilities. The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment said that hospitals and pharmacies should focus on administering shots to people 70 and older.
The ways that health systems are reaching the wider public — which right now just involves those 70 and older — varies. Some are contacting their eligible patients directly, while others have created online waitlists for Coloradans to sign up.
In preparing to expand distribution, Denver officials want to model the city’s vaccine distribution after its COVID-19 testing operations. After closing its mass testing site at the Pepsi Center, the city moved to operating smaller sites in communities hit hardest by the pandemic.
“We will be focusing on those locations that may not have access to close pharmacies or clinics or hospitals,” said Bob McDonald, executive director, of Denver Department of Public Health and Environment.
By doing this, city officials are seeking to make the vaccines more accessible to people of color — who have died at a disproportionately higher rate during the pandemic — and other underserved communities.
“I don’t think that this is an indictment on the state, but this is the reason why many of the mayors came together, and recognizing that we can be helpful in the distribution of the vaccine,” Hancock said. “And identifying where some of our most vulnerable residents live and making sure that we have the capacity to get it out to them.”
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