COVID In Colorado: Rapid On-Call List Puts People On Standby For Unused Vaccine Doses
DENVER (CBS4)- SCL Health isn't letting any COVIDs vaccines go to waste. They've started a rapid on-call list for unused doses at the end of each day.
SCL Health is offering them up to people who agree to be on call and live within 15 minutes of one of their hospitals. They're piloting the program now, and plan to make it available at all their hospitals, including Saint Joseph's in Denver.
"As a health system we want to make sure that we're making the best of every single dose that we have," said Jennifer Davis, SCL Health Director of Pharmacy Services. "The intention is that we would be able to identify people who are close to our vaccination sites, that we could call 30 minutes before the end of the day and let them know we have doses left over. We can get them into arms without wasting them."
The program is open to anyone under current state vaccination guidelines.
"You're taken to a form that asks basic information like your name, address, date of birth, and health history," Davis told CBS4's Andrea Flores. "It asks you to confirm you live within 15 minutes of one of our hospitals. That'll be the trigger for us to call you if we have the need to use the rapid call function at the end of the day."
Davis says for many it will be luck of the draw depending on the day.
"Some days we have no doses left over at the end of our vaccination clinic, and we wouldn't use that list at all. We wouldn't call anyone," said Davis. "On other days, there might be a couple doses. It really varies."
With limited vaccines, SCL Health is making sure every single dose is used.
"Every day that goes by where we don't get vaccines to some of our highest risk groups is another day where they might be exposed to COVID-19," Davis said.