SAN LUIS VALLEY - It has been 6 months since COVID-19 vaccines began to be administered in the San Luis Valley. Since then, over 19,000 residents have been fully vaccinated, and another 2,000 have received the first of two doses. “We are seeing people now who were initially on the fence coming in for vaccines, and they have reevaluated and decided to go ahead. We encourage everyone to get vaccinated if you haven’t done so yet,” said Bev Strnad, RN., of Alamosa County Public Health. 

Delta and other variants of the virus have caused a continued need for certain precautions. Colorado’s Fourth Amended Public Health Order 20-38 still requires face coverings for everyone (or medical grade masks for those who are unvaccinated) in certain high risk settings such as jails, homeless shelters, and health care settings including dental offices. Nursing homes in our area are also required to implement enhanced infection control precautions, so be sure to check with the facility about current rules if you plan to visit someone in a nursing facility. As always, business owners have the right to require masks to protect their employees if they choose to do so. 

Vaccines are still the best protection against severe COVID-19 illness. However, vaccines cannot provide a 100% guarantee against infection. Whether you have been vaccinated or not, stay home if you are sick, and get tested if you have COVID-like symptoms, which may feel like a cold or allergies. Vaccines have allowed us to resume more of the activities we missed during the past 16 months, but the pandemic is not over yet and some caution is still in order. 

For information on local vaccine providers, see www.slvphp.com/vaccination or call 719-480-8719. This week’s mobile vaccine bus clinics are as follows:

* San Luis - Centennial High School, Wednesday July 7, 9am-noon

* Monte Vista - Main & Adams St, Wednesday, July 7, 2pm-4pm

There were 52 known active cases of COVID-19 in the San Luis Valley as of Tuesday.

Alamosa County -18

Conejos County - 6

Costilla County -0

Mineral County - 0

Rio Grande County - 13

Saguache County - 15