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COVID-19 vaccines and testing

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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has approved a booster for Moderna and the J&J COVID-19 vaccines.
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As of Friday, Oct. 22, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has approved a booster for Moderna and the J&J vaccine. VA Western Colorado Health Care System is working through the details and creating the plan to administer this safely to our Veterans that would like to receive it.
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COVID-19 vaccine alert
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We will get that communication out once we have our plan in place. Please refer to our Facebook page, website, and MyhealtheVet emails for updates.

If you are immune compromised or fall into a high-risk category, please call your primary care provider and schedule an appointment to receive a third COVID-19 dose. More information about VA COVID-19 vaccines.

COVID-19 vaccines

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has authorized the first COVID-19 vaccine. VA will have a limited amount of this vaccine to start. We’ve worked with the CDC and other federal partners to develop a phased plan. Our goal is to do the most good for the most people during this time.

Under this plan, we’ll first offer vaccines to these two groups:

  • Veterans living in our long-term care facilities, and
  • VA health care personnel. Vaccinating our high-risk VA health care personnel helps us continue providing care for Veterans.

We based this plan on these criteria from CDC guidelines:

  • Risk of becoming infected with the virus
  • Risk of severe illness and death from COVID-19
  • Risk of spreading the virus to others
  • Risk of harm to society if essential workers, including health care personnel, are unable to work

Free at-home COVID-19 tests

Order free at-⁠home COVID-⁠19 tests at COVIDtests.gov, or by calling 1-800-232-0233 (TTY 1-888-720-7489). Order tests now so you have them when you need them. Learn more about COVID-19 testing at VA.

After the first two groups, we’ll begin to offer vaccines to more Veterans who are at high risk of severe illness from COVID-19. Your VA health care team will contact you if you’re eligible to get a vaccine during this time.