Chaffee County Public Health Updates on Community Clinic, Boosters, and Vaccines

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COVID-19 Vaccine (iStock 1281635877)

Posted By: Dan R September 8, 2022

There have been several recent developments at Chaffee County Public Health. They now have the Bivalent COVID-19 Booster and Monkey Pox Vaccine.

Chaffee County Public Health (CCPH) now has both the Pfizer and Moderna bivalent COVID-19 booster and is scheduling appointments for upcoming clinics as well as a special all-day immunization clinic on Wednesday, September 14th in Salida at the Touber Building. Appointments can be made for regular clinic days and times by calling 719-539-4510 and for the special clinic by registering at chaffeecounty-Sep14.rsvpify.com. Reservations are required. The newly updated COVID-19 booster is for people 12 and older if Pfizer and 18 and older if Moderna. These latest versions of the booster provide protection against the BA.4 and BA.5 Omicron subvariants.

CCPH also has secured the JYNNEOS vaccine that can be used to protect against the Monkeypox Virus (MPV). Currently, the following eligibility criteria are being used to administer the JYNNEOS vaccine:

  • Anyone who has had close physical contact with someone who has MPV in the last 14 days.
  • Anyone (any sexual orientation or gender-identity) who:
    • Has had multiple sexual partners in the last 14 days, or
    • Has had sexual partners they did not previously know in the last 14 days, or
    • Has had close physical contact with other people in a venue where anonymous or group sex may occur.
    • Was diagnosed with gonorrhea or syphilis in past three months, or
    • Who already use or is eligible for HIV PrEP (medication to prevent HIV, (Truvado or Descovy or Apretude)
    • Who engages in commercial and/or transactional sex (sex in exchange for money, shelter, food and other goods or needs)
  • Anyone identified by public health as a known high-risk contact of someone who has monkeypox.

CCPH recently launched a free, mobile health clinic providing harm reduction programming, STI/HIV testing and pathways to treatment, wound care, and other public health services. This clinic, Chaffee Community Clinic, is in Salida on Mondays from noon-4pm at the Methodist Church and in Buena Vista from 1-4pm at the Community Center. CCPH will now be offering the Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 bivalent booster as well as the JYNNEOS MPV vaccine onsite while supplies last.

CCPH has also secured the state’s vaccine bus for the upcoming months. The bus will be traveling around the county and will have the suite of COVID-19 vaccines as well as MPV. It does not sound like it will be offering flu shots this year.

However, Influenza has been detected in Chaffee County. CCPH does have this year’s flu vaccine in stock. Appointments can be made by calling 719-539-4510. There will be several additional flu shot clinics throughout fall.

“This is a very crucial time to protect the health of our county, and as respiratory illness season gets underway, we want to make sure that the public knows where to go to easily access immunizations as well as other public health services. We hope that people utilize Chaffee Community Clinic or the vaccine bus to get their public health needs met, especially if our traditional clinics haven’t met needs or presented barriers,” says Andrea Carlstrom, Director, Chaffee County Public Health.

Dan R
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