Early Bird

An update on Covid-19 vaccine distribution

The Auraria Campus will this weekend host its first vaccination event for qualifying Aurarians.

By Steve Monaco

March 4, 2021

The Auraria Campus institutions are very pleased to announce that the campus will this weekend host its first vaccination event for qualifying Aurarians.

On Sunday, the Health Center at Auraria will provide the Johnson & Johnson Janssen COVID-19 vaccine to qualifying members of the Auraria Campus community in collaboration with Denver Health and COVIDCheck Colorado (via the scheduling platform Primary Bio). Aurarians who qualify for Phase 1 B.2 and Phase I B.3 (primarily those aged 60 and older) should have received an email directly from Primary Bio with instructions on how to register and select an appointment slot. Please check your spam folder to ensure an invitation isn’t overlooked or misplaced.

At this time there are 800 available doses, and scheduling is on a first-come, first-served basis. Aurarians who received an email invitation to schedule their vaccination appointment must do so by noon on Friday, March 5. Vaccinations will occur on Sunday, March 7 at the drive-thru location established in the 5^th Street Garage (650 Walnut St, Denver, CO 80204).

Members of the campus community must complete the registration process and have a confirmed appointment slot in order to receive a vaccination. Those who have not registered or who have not received an appointment confirmation will not be accommodated at this time.

If you cannot schedule an appointment for this weekend, there will be additional vaccination opportunities in the future. More details will be promptly shared with the campus community as they become available.

UPDATE FOR THE WEEK OF MARCH 1, 2021

VACCINE AVAILABILITY

We continue to await word from state and federal health officials about when additional vaccines will be available for our Point of Dispensing (POD) site at the Fifth Street Garage.

CURRENT ELIGIBILITY | PHASE 1B.1 and 1B.2

• We are required to follow the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) phase categories for vaccine prioritization.
• CCD, MSU Denver, CU Denver, and AHEC have compiled lists of those who qualify for Phase 1B.1 and 1B.2.
• When vaccines become available, random selection from each of the lists will occur, and individuals will receive an email invitation from Primary Bio with instructions for scheduling a vaccine appointment. We expect this to happen in the next several weeks.

WHERE TO GET VACCINATED
Find statewide vaccine locations on the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDHE) "Where Can I Get Vaccinated" website.

LEARN MORE ABOUT THE VACCINE

Learn more about the COVID-19 vaccine:

Health Center at Auraria COVID-19 FAQ (English) »

Health Center at Auraria COVID-19 FAQ (Spanish) »

COVIDCheck Colorado Vaccine FAQ »

CDC COVID-19 Vaccine »

Four CU School of Medicine Faculty Who Specialize in Treating the Immune System Talk About the Coronavirus Vaccine »

Johns Hopkins Medicine | Why is it Important that I Consider Getting the COVID-19 vaccine? »

CDC Vaccination Fact Sheet (English) »

CDC Vaccination Fact Sheet (Spanish) »

More information on the COVID-19 vaccine and transmission reduction

For more than two months, the US population has been receiving COVID-19 vaccines from one of two drug companies—Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna. As of this past Monday, there is now a third COVID-19 vaccine from Johnson and Johnson/Janssen. All are highly effective at preventing illness, hospitalization and death from COVID-19.

However, many people, including those who oppose vaccination or laws that mandate vaccination, have asked whether vaccination prevents transmission to others. In other words, a vaccinated person is well protected from COVID-19, but if they are a carrier of the virus, can sharing a hug with Grandma result in her becoming infected?

There are pre-published studies suggesting that vaccines reduce viral transmission, potentially by 85% to 90%. This information is encouraging and takes us closer to the highly desired “return to normal.”

We already knew that getting the population vaccinated would help curb transmission. This is consistent with what we know about vaccines and transmission in general. We know that the COVID-19 vaccines not only make people less likely to get symptomatic infections—that’s the 72-95% effectiveness rate people have heard about—but they also make people much less likely to get infected at all. In other words, the vaccines reduce asymptomatic infection as well as reduce symptomatic infection.

Let’s say a person who has been vaccinated gets infected with COVID-19. That’s not great, but the vaccine does continue to protect the individuals with whom they come into contact. Another factor that needs to be considered is viral load; that is, the amount of virus carried in an infected person’s body. There is a strong correlation between viral load and how many people one can infect, as well as the intensity of the symptoms that experienced. Your viral load determines how much virus you are coughing or breathing into the air, which determines whether or not the people who share your airspace get sick. So it is not a stretch to say that by reducing your viral load—in essence reducing the intensity of your disease—you are also reducing the number of people you can infect.

A study from Israel states, “We find that the viral load is reduced four-fold for infections occurring 12-28 days after the first dose of vaccine. These reduced viral loads hint to lower infectiousness, further contributing to vaccine impact on virus spread.”

The bottom line is that vaccination makes people less likely to get a case of COVID-19. Further, if a vaccinated person does test positive for COVID-19, that person will have a lower viral load, which makes it less likely that they will pass on the virus. If they do infect another person, that individual’s infection is, again, less likely to be serious.

So, we need to continue to social distance, cover our faces and get everyone vaccinated.

Adapted from Kelsey Piper. The growing evidence that the COVID-19 vaccines can reduce transmission, explained. Vox. Feb 23, 2021.