The governor’s office sent a letter to the Black and Latino Caucuses on Saturday about the vaccine rollout and asking for help to increase the state budget $6 million to close the health equity gap.

The letter, signed by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) Executive Director Jill Hunsaker Ryan and Strategic Consultant to Gov. Jared Polis, Rick Palacio, said the office is committed to serving underprivileged communities.

“We reach out today to update the Caucuses on our recent actions to quickly administer vaccines to our most vulnerable populations and to ask for your partnership to inform our ongoing efforts as well as your help as we pursue a $6 million dollar budget request to increase our ongoing commitment to achieving health equity in Colorado,” Ryan and Palacio wrote in the letter.

“We not only request your support for this budget amendment, but request your thought partnership in reimagining the work that CDPHE does to address health inequities in a more comprehensive way than the department has resource to do in the past.”

The letter comes in the wake of a letter from Polis and Hunsaker Ryan to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last week asking to reallocate portions of funds from the CARES Act Unemployment Extension to high risk and underserved populations.

In the letter sent Saturday, Hunsaker Ryan and Palacio say they are ready to begin vaccinating under-represented communities prior to the release of funds from the CDC.

“If granted, we will quickly direct the funds towards our goal to vaccinate all Coloradans, especially (the) vulnerable populations,” the letter read.

As of Jan. 12, only 3.5% of Denver’s residents had been given the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine and only 1.1% received the second dose, The Denver Gazette previously reported.

Health officials say herd immunity can occur when 70% to 95% of the population is vaccinated.

Officials say the establishment of pop-up vaccination clinics has helped under-represented communities to achieve the vaccine faster.

“Piloting these pop up community-based vaccine clinics has not only resulted in over 500 seniors receiving the vaccine close to their homes, but we have gained invaluable experience regarding how to execute these vaccine clinics, and are using this knowledge to scale up these efforts,” the letter read.

“These types of clinics are specifically tailored to serve areas with the lowest income and highest number of senior populations of color in the state. Likewise, it is our goal to reach 50% of communities ranked as such with pop-up clinics by (Feb. 28).”

To assure vaccination continues in underpopulated communities, officials are requiring medical companies to report patients’ ages, zip codes and patient-volunteered race to the state.

“As retail pharmacies are added to our statewide vaccine program, we have requested that our large pharmacy partners use their best efforts to double their staff qualified to administer vaccines to low income and communities of color throughout the state,” the letter read.