Polis announces incentives to curb 'crisis of the unvaccinatedGov. Jared Polis announced Sept. 2 the state will offer grants of up to $120,000 to doctors for supporting COVID vaccination and discussing the benefits and risks of the COVID-19 vaccine with patients.
With more than 75 percent of Coloradans vaccinated with at least one dose, Polis said, “we know that the best way to reach the remaining 25 percent is through their family doctor, whom they trust to treat them for common health issues — which is why we are empowering our local doctors across Colorado to order and administer the COVID vaccine right then and there.”
The new COVID-19 Primary Care Providers Grants range from “up to $60,000 to up to $120,000depending on practice size,” and applications are open until Dec. 1, 2021 at COPCPVAX.com. The state will review them on a rolling basis until all funding is distributed.
At the same briefing, Polis announced announced incentives for students to get tested via the state’s free, voluntary statewide COVID-19 testing program in schools through the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.
All students in participating schools whose parents have opted into COVID testing are eligible to receive gift cards of $25 for the first test and $10 for each subsequent test.
Additionally, any school that participates in the School Testing Initiative program will receive $2.50 per test administered and reported to CDPHEas a reimbursement for the testing administrative costs. The program is available to all Colorado K-12 schools, and all students and staff can participate regardless of vaccination status or presence of symptoms.
“These new initiatives — testing incentives for students and grants for primary care providers — will protect the public good and in-person learning while providing more motivation to get more Coloradans to get the safe and effective vaccine,” Polis said.
“What we’re seeing every day is thatthis is a crisis of the unvaccinated,” he added. “While those who are vaccinated can contract the virus, there’s a decreased likelihood that they will, and they have a much more minor impact from the virus. We really want to encourage everyone to get vaccinated.
“We have 796 of our fellow Coloradans that are in the hospital right now with COVID. Of the 796, 103 are vaccinated — they’re breakthrough [cases].
"To put that into perspective, about 75 percent of our adult population is vaccinated; out of that 75 percent, there are only 103 hospitalizations. Out of the 25 percent [of the state's population] who aren’t vaccinated, we have 693 hospitalizations.”
Polis said for those aged 12-17, the vaccine has “very close to 100 percent efficacy.
“There is no reason for any child 12-17 right now to be hospitalized from COVID, because it is all but entirely preventable for that age group,” he said.
At the briefing, Dr. Marc Moss, head of the Division of Pulmonary Sciences and Critical Care Medicine at the University of Colorado School of Medicine-Anschutz, shared his experiences working on the frontlines of the pandemic.
“This pandemic has caused enough economic loss, sadness, tragedy, and far too many deaths,” Moss said. “On behalf of the tens of thousands of healthcare professionals in the great state of Colorado and the other front-line workers who have worked on your behalf, we urge you to get vaccinated.”
https://www.csbj.com/news/polis-announces-incentives-to-curb-crisis-of-the-unvaccinated/article_6f933aee-0c34-11ec-a715-8373b30e0cb7.html