The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
Walk-in clinics at both ends of the valley
[ By Mark Reaman ]
The quest to vaccinate 10,000 people in Gunnison County for COVID-19 is continuing. Once that mark is reached, public health restrictions would be loosened and a more “normal” summer could be experienced.
According to county public information officer, Loren Ahonen, as of this week, Gunnison County had 8,232 fully vaccinated Gunnison County residents “and we are making good progress with scheduled second doses alongside the upcoming walk-in clinics.”
The walk-in clinic will be held at both ends of the valley. The Crested Butte walk-in vaccination clinic will be this Saturday, May 1 from 10 a.m. until 11:30 a.m. at the Crested Butte Community School multi-purpose room. Officials will be utilizing the Pfizer vaccine. Clark’s Market in Crested Butte is also now offering the vaccine.
The walk-in clinic in Gunnison is taking place Thursday, April 29 from 3 p.m. until 5:30 p.m. at the Fred Field Center. Both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines will be available. A second Gunnison clinic will be held on Thursday, May 6 at the Fred Field Center. Vaccines will be available at 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. and again from 4 p.m. until 6 p.m. It is during the lunchtime May 6 clinic that the one dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine will be distributed.
“We encourage those who have started the vaccination process to finish the cycle by receiving their second dose as scheduled,” encouraged Ahonen. “Second dose appointments continue to be scheduled through our county database. If you got your first shot at a Gunnison County clinic, you will receive a scheduling update when it is time for your second dose. If you, or someone you know, received your first shot outside of our community and are trying to schedule a second dose locally, please reach out to the Call Center at 970-641-7660 and they can help you get scheduled for a second dose.”
As for any uptick in positive cases as a result of spring break travel, it is too early to see a change in Crested Butte. “This would likely occur within seven to 10 days of the end of break,” explained Ahonen. “We did see an increase in cases after the Gunnison/Western spring break, but can’t identify that trend yet from the Crested Butte spring break. Gunnison County encourages those who travelled over spring break to seek testing as needed. The most important thing at the moment is to focus on getting everyone who wants a vaccine, vaccinated. That will help us get back to normal faster and we are still hopeful to have that 10,000 person goal accomplished sometime in May.”
