4/1/21 Update
Increase in Case Counts
In the last week, Gunnison County has seen a significant rise Covid-19 cases and positivity. As of 4/1/21, we have seen 26 positive tests in the last seven days. The 7-day average positivity in our community is now 4.84%. We encourage everyone to continue wearing their masks and participating in other best practices for containment as we progress through our vaccination process.
Phase 2 Vaccinations Open
As of Friday, the State of Colorado has announced that on 4/2/21 Phase 2 of vaccinations will open. Phase 2 corresponds to the general public and means that all adults 16 and older who are interested in being vaccinated can look to schedule an appointment. Currently, the only vaccine approved for populations under 18 is Pfizer. At this point, Gunnison County regularly sees Pfizer doses and we will be able to continue scheduling this population at specific clinics. A reminder that those under 18 need have an adult present to consent for vaccination.
Anyone in the general population interested in being vaccinated should continue to register in the Vaccine Interest Form.
Locally, we anticipate that as we begin scheduling next week’s clinics we will be moving into the Phase 2 population.
Please fill out our vaccine interest form that is live on the vaccine information page on our website. Even if you are not interested in receiving the vaccine or if you are now just becoming eligible we ask that you still complete the form.
Our total vaccination progress is being updated on Monday evenings and can be found on our dashboard here.
Mass Vaccination Site in Mesa County
The state has a mass vaccination site in Mesa County that is also open to regional residents. As vaccinations pivot toward the general population, this resource is also available to our community.
The clinic is at The Mesa County Convention Center (159 Main Street). The vaccination site is open Monday-Friday, 9am – 4pm. Registration for appointments required. Scheduling in English. Scheduling in Spanish.
Metrics for Move to Green on the Gunnison County Coronameter
On Monday we announced the metrics that it will take to reach herd immunity and move to green on the Gunnison County Coronameter.
It is important to note that while moving to green would drop restrictions on businesses, the mask mandate does continue even in green. Barring any resurgence of a variant that renders the vaccine ineffective, it is likely that the Gunnison County Public Health Order could expire at the end of June, along with the mask mandate.
Herd Immunity means that we have:
-10,000 individuals who are fully vaccinated with an effective vaccine
-Over 70% of individuals 65+ are fully vaccinated with an effective vaccine
-Over 70% of individuals in our database who list a health condition are scheduled for vaccination with an effective vaccine
We have already been able to fully vaccinate 76% of individuals over 65 years of age. This percentage is based on the DOLA estimates of our population of individuals over 65.
We have currently scheduled 98% of individuals with a health condition for a vaccine. Not all of these individuals are fully vaccinated. The good news is that within the next 4 weeks all of those individuals should be fully vaccinated. It is possible that more individuals with health conditions could add themselves to our system and this number could fluctuate up and down a bit.
The last remaining metric to meet herd immunity is to get 10,000 or more individuals in our county fully vaccinated with an effective vaccine. After this week we will have over 5,000 individuals fully vaccinated. If we are able to keep up the pace that we have currently be going at in vaccinations, it is possible that we could reach this 10,000 number ahead of summer. This will depend on a continued supply of vaccine as well as interest from the public to get vaccinated. Help your neighbors get into our vaccine interest form.
Other Vaccine Sites
Through a federal program, City Market has been providing vaccine. They have set up a scheduling system that is separate from the Gunnison County Vaccine Interest Form. We are excited to have more doses arriving into our community.
Walmart has also begun vaccinations. Sign up can be found here.
Community Testing
Free testing for anyone for any reason through Gunnison Valley Health continues. Asymptomatic testing will be on a first come first serve basis by appointment. To make an appointment reach out to the Call Center at 970-641-7660.
Virtual Town Halls
Our next Town Hall meeting will be at 4:00 PM on Monday, 4/5. Sign up ahead of time here.
If there is a topic you would like to see covered, please email ideas to, pio@gunnisoncounty.org.
State Exposure Notification App
The state’s new exposure notification app is now live. Info on how to set it up can be found here. Even a small uptake of the app in our community can positively impact our outcomes. While alone it won’t be a game changer, combined with our other tools- social distancing, masks, hand hygiene- we can continue to reduce the spread.
Call Center: 970-641-7660
The Call Center is open from 8 a.m.-12p.m. and 1 p.m.- 4 p.m. Monday-Friday.
For those needing assistance outside of those hours, please leave a message. There will also be someone monitoring the callcenter@gunnisoncounty.org email.
Delivery Assistance
We can help you arrange deliveries of groceries from City Market’s Pickup program, food bundles from the Gunnison Food Pantry and prescriptions from City Market or Walmart pharmacies. We ask that you only use this service if you are at risk and isolating at home, ill with COVID-19 symptoms or quarantined because of exposure. Deliveries are made by drivers trained to handle your order safely.
To arrange for a delivery, please call Senior Transportation Dispatch at 970-641-7959 Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Grocery deliveries can be scheduled Monday through Friday.
Prescription deliveries can be called in throughout the week but will only be delivered on Tuesdays and Fridays for the Gunnison area and on Tuesdays for the Crested Butte area. Special arrangements may be made in the case of an emergency.
Food Pantry bundles can be requested throughout the week but are only delivered on Tuesdays and Fridays in Gunnison, and on Tuesdays for the Crested Butte area.