El Paso County Public Health on Tuesday received 300 doses of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine, the department announced, just one week after receiving its first shipment of Pfizer vaccines.

The county’s shipment of the Moderna vaccines, approved for use Friday by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, was being prepared Tuesday for distribution to a local Safeway to administer to additional health care workers in the first stage of the state’s phased vaccine distribution plan, according to a news release from the department. This includes the highest-risk health care workers who have direct contact with COVID-19 patients for 15 minutes or more over a 24-hour period, as well as long-term care facility staff and residents.

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County officials anticipate vaccinating 300 health care workers, but they are aware there are “far more” than 300 highest-risk health care workers, El Paso County Public Health spokeswoman Michelle Hewitt said in an email to The Gazette.

If there are additional doses from the shipment, the county will work with partners to identify other highest-risk health care workers who still need a vaccine, Hewitt said. The county is closely aligned with Colorado’s vaccine distribution plan and provides vaccines as directed by the state, she said.

Vaccines are not available to the general public, and El Paso County Public Health is not currently providing COVID-19 vaccines, according to the release.

“It is exciting to see our frontline heroes getting timely access to the vaccine, which will help them be able to continue caring for their patients,” El Paso County Public Health Medical Director Robin Johnson said in the release. “This is a monumental effort taking place in our community, and it is a testament to the strength of El Paso County’s response.”  

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The Moderna vaccine — the second to be approved by the FDA to prevent COVID-19, the sometimes deadly disease caused by the coronavirus — arrived in the county a week after UCHealth Memorial Hospital Central received 3,900 doses of the Pfizer vaccine. On Tuesday, UCHealth also received 4,100 doses of the Moderna vaccine at its Memorial Hospital Central location, 800 doses at its Memorial Hospital North campus, and 100 at UCHealth Grandview Hospital, spokeswoman Cary Vogrin said.

Penrose-St. Francis Health Services is expected to receive 1,950 doses from the initial shipment of Pfizer’s vaccines, and 1,100 doses of the Moderna vaccine.

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The vaccinations are arriving around the same time the community had expected to see the post-Thanksgiving surge in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations. But local cases are plateauing and there has been a slight decrease in hospitalizations, data from El Paso County Public Health show.

County public health leaders encouraged residents to “remain vigilant” with prevention measures through the holiday season: Celebrate the holidays only with people who live in your household; refrain from traveling; shop for gifts online and have them delivered or utilize curbside pickup options to avoid crowded stores; and wear a mask and practice social distancing when leaving home.