{"id":49721,"date":"2020-12-23T22:14:30","date_gmt":"2020-12-24T05:14:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/moderna-vaccine-arrives-for-first-responders-in-montezuma-county\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T03:48:29","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T09:48:29","slug":"moderna-vaccine-arrives-for-first-responders-in-montezuma-county","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/moderna-vaccine-arrives-for-first-responders-in-montezuma-county\/","title":{"rendered":"Moderna vaccine arrives for first responders in Montezuma County"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

<\/p>\n

First responders in Montezuma County are next to get vaccinated against COVID-19, officials report.<\/p>\n

One hundred doses of the Moderna vaccine have arrived at the Montezuma County Health Department, reports public information officer Vicki Shafer.<\/p>\n

The vaccine shots will be administered to frontline health care workers and emergency responders in the Phase 1B category of the state distribution plan.<\/p>\n

The category includes fields with a moderate risk level for exposure to the virus, such as workers in home health, hospice, dental settings, EMS, firefighters, police, correctional workers, dispatchers, funeral services and other first responders.<\/p>\n

The health department is scheduling people in Category 1B for vaccine clinics next week. The location will not be revealed except to those who qualify for this round of vaccines.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe first shipment will all be used up,\u201d Shafer said.<\/p>\n

People in these categories who have not been contacted for vaccine scheduling should contact their employer or email the health department at publichealth@co.montezuma.co.us<\/a> with phase or scheduling questions.<\/p>\n

More information on the Moderna vaccine can be found at the Centers for Disease control website<\/a>, www.cdc.gov\/vaccines\/covid- 19\/info-by-product\/moderna\/index.html.<\/p>\n

The first shipment will not cover all in the Phase 1B category, and will be spread among different agencies.<\/p>\n

The health department has not been notified when the next batch will be delivered. The Moderna vaccine requires a booster shot in 28 days.<\/p>\n

Getting vaccinated is voluntary for the Montezuma County Sheriff\u2019s Office, said Sheriff Steve Nowlin.<\/p>\n

He said some staff want the vaccine, and others do not. Five deputies have signed up to receive shots from the first batch, Nowlin said.<\/p>\n

\"A
A screenshot of Colorado&#x2019;s final vaccine distribution plan.<\/span>du1-i-syn<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Last week, local health care workers in Phase 1A at Southwest Memorial Hospital received the first 150 vials of the Pfizer vaccine in Montezuma County.<\/p>\n

Under a Phase 1A distribution plan implemented by the Colorado Department of Health and Environment, high-risk health care workers who have direct contact with patients for 15 minutes or more over a 24-hour period.<\/p>\n

Pfizer requires a booster shot after 21 days.<\/p>\n

The Pfizer vaccine must be stored at -84 degrees Fahrenheit. The hospital purchased a specialized freezer to store the vaccines. The Moderna vaccine does not need to be stored at freezing temperatures.<\/p>\n

Another 150 vaccine doses were expected to arrive this week to the hospital, with has a staff of about 400.<\/p>\n

As of Dec. 23, Southwest Health System had vaccinated 319 frontline health care workers at the hospital, said executive assistant Bridgett Jabour.<\/p>\n

On Monday, SHS plans to continue vaccinations with the Moderna vaccine for remaining staff, plus dental and home health workers.<\/p>\n

Phase 1A also includes vaccinating long-term care facility staff and residents, also known as nursing homes. That vaccination program is mainly being run by a federal program called the Pharmacy Partnership for Long-term Care Program in cooperation with drugstore chains CVS and Walgreens, which will provide the shots.<\/p>\n

The vaccines for nursing homes have not yet arrived at the Cortez Walgreens, Shafer said. Those facilities will be contacted when they become available.<\/p>\n\n

How does it work?<\/div>\n

The Pfizer and Moderna vaccines use a messenger RNA strategy to create antibodies that then attack the COVID-19 virus once detected in the body, said SHS medical director Kent Aikin.<\/p>\n

It is different from traditional vaccines used for the flu or measles, which inject a small piece of inactive virus that the body recognizes as foreign and causes the buildup of an immune response.<\/p>\n

Instead of using a piece of the virus, the messenger RNA vaccine utilizes a protein marker, or spike, that is very similar to a piece of the COVID-19 virus, Aikin said.<\/p>\n

The distinct protein marker triggers an antibody reaction that destroys the actual COVID-19 virus once detected in the body.<\/p>\n

jmimiaga@the-journal.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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