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Third vaccine doses available for general public next week

Moderna COVID-19 vials seen inside the storage container at Moffat County Public Health, located on Pershing Street.
Craig Press file

Members of the general public who have received their first two doses of the COVID-19 vaccine can expect to be eligible for a third dose by next week, according to a release from Gov. Jared Polis’s office.

The federal government is aiming for Sept. 20 as a target date for the general population to be able to receive a third dose. Currently, over 75% of the Colorado population has at least one dose of Pfizer and Moderna vaccines.

According to Jennifer Riley, vice president of operations for Memorial Regional Health, six third doses have been given away during vaccine clinics. More could have been given in personal appointments, but that data was not readily available at the time of publication. Johns Hopkins reported 26 new COVID-19 cases in Moffat County. At Monday’s COVID-19 update conference, Gov. Polis said that the state of Colorado has the resources to offer boosters and third doses to the general public.



“We have the ability to end the pandemic and have to show the will to end it — getting the safe and effective vaccine is the best way to protect yourself and your family and to end the pain brought on by this pandemic,” Polis said.

A third dose of the vaccine allows immunocompromised people to achieve the same level of protection from the COVID-19 virus that healthy people have with two doses. Currently, 2.4% of Coloradans have received boosters.



Currently, to receive a third dose from MRH, patients must wait at least 28 days after their second dose and have one of the following conditions that can cause weakened immunity:

  • Active treatment for solid tumor and hematologic malignancies
  • Receipt of solid‐organ transplant and taking immunosuppressive therapy
  • Receipt of CAR‐T‐cell or hematopoietic stem cell transplant (within 2 years of transplantation or taking immunosuppression therapy)
  • Moderate or severe primary immunodeficiency (e.g., DiGeorge syndrome, Wiskott‐Aldrich syndrome)
  • Advanced or untreated HIV infection
  • Active treatment with high‐dose corticosteroids (i.e., ≥20mg prednisone or equivalent per day), alkylating agents, antimetabolites, transplant‐related immunosuppressive drugs, cancer chemotherapeutic agents classified as severely immunosuppressive, tumor‐necrosis (TNF) blockers, and other biologic agents that are immunosuppressive or immunomodulatory.
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