The Upper Pine River Fire Protection District, which covers 265 square miles of eastern La Plata County, plans to open a public vaccination center in the next two weeks.
The fire district has been checking off training requirements and public health criteria in order to offer vaccination services to the 12,500 adult residents of its district. The effort is meant to assist San Juan Basin Public Health as it facilitates COVID-19 vaccinations in La Plata and Archuleta counties.
“The health department, they have a big, big job and they don’t have a lot of staff,” said Bruce Evans, Upper Pine fire chief. “This is a national emergency, so as a public safety agency, we’re more than happy to step forward and do our part.”
Colorado is taking a phased approach to vaccinating the public during the pandemic. Front-line workers who have regular exposures to COVID-19 patients and long-term care facility staff members and residents were first in line for the vaccines.
Evans said the state is moving into its second phase in which Coloradans ages 70 or older, moderate-risk health care workers, first responders and front-line essential workers can receive the vaccine.
As more people become eligible for the vaccine, more vaccination centers will be needed, Evans said.
The district completed an application with the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment that required SJBPH to confirm the district is capable of administering vaccines.
Upper Pine meets storage and vaccine refrigeration requirements. It has an emergency power supply, and its staff members have been working with Mercy Regional Medical Center to receive COVID-19 vaccine training.
The application is confirmed, and about a third of Upper Pine emergency personnel are trained.
“We’re really close,” Evans said. “Ultimately, when we get to the point where we’re actually going to do vaccines as a vaccine clinic, we’ll have the health department supervising our first rounds.”
He encouraged that scrutiny, saying it was one way to build public confidence in the effort.
There was some urgency, however, Evans said. While the district has staff members available to help with vaccinations during its slow season, that could change around April 1 when wildfire season begins, he said.
“Obviously, this virus is completely random on who it’s taking and who it’s killing. Our job is to protect lives and save people. We see this as a natural extension of that,” he said.
smullane@durangoherald.com
