Flu shots widely available in Eagle County, but COVID-19, RSV … – Vail Daily

As we head into winter, many people are thinking about vaccines to protect against the various respiratory diseases that circulate through the season.

The good news is that flu shots are widely available, and insurers generally pay for those vaccines. The vaccines are also free for certain patients.

Rebecca Larson, deputy director of the Eagle County Department of Public Health and Environment, wrote in an email that the countys MIRA bus will provide free flu shots through October. That vaccine is recommended for people 6 months old and older.

Alana Hurst, the director of Urgent Care and Clinical Support at Colorado Mountain Medical, wrote that facility has a large quantity of vaccinations, including a supply of high dose vaccines for people 65 and older.

Patients can walk in for a shot at Colorado Mountain Medicals offices in Avon, Dillon, Eagle and Vail

The facility will hold flu and COVID-19 vaccine clinics from 9 a.m.-3 p.m. on Oct. 14 in Dillon, Oct. 21 in Eagle and Nov. 11 in Eagle.

While the flu vaccine is available just about anywhere, including local pharmacies, the story is different for the latest COVID-19 vaccine, this one from Moderna. While most people can get both a flu shot and a COVID-19 vaccine during the same visit, supplies are more limited for the COVID-19 shot.

Colorado Mountain Medical has about 600 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, and Larson wrote that the vaccine isnt yet widely available in the community. Larson added that health officials expect the supply to improve in the next month or so.

In fact, Eagle County Public Health isnt yet able to offer the new COVID-19 vaccine. Once those vaccines are available, Eagle County Health will only offer the shots to children and adults served by Medicaid, those without insurance, or those whose insurance doesnt cover the cost of the vaccine.

While the federal government covered the cost of the first few rounds of the COVID-19 vaccine, that cost is now borne by private insurers. Private-pay patients will pay about $150 for the shot.

Supplies are even more limited for the vaccine for the respiratory syncytial virus, known as RSV.

Colorado Mountain Medical isnt yet offering that vaccine, and Eagle County Public Health isnt offering the vaccine since it isnt part of the federal vaccine program for children, or for adults without insurance.

The RSV vaccine is recommended for older adults those 60 and older with health conditions that could be worsened by a bad respiratory virus. Infants younger than 8 months those who werent yet born during the last RSV season should also be vaccinated. The RSV vaccine is expensive as much as $300 per dose for private-pay patients but insurers usually cover that cost.

Still, Larson wrote, the RSV vaccine is a new one, so there will be a slow rollout from health care providers.

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Once the RSV vaccine is available, patients may get that shot at the same time they get flu and COVID-19 shots. But, Larson wrote, many health care providers recommend getting the RSV shot either two weeks before or after their flu and COVID shots.

As always, if you are laid low by a respiratory virus, stay home, and wash your hands, pretty much all the time.

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Flu shots widely available in Eagle County, but COVID-19, RSV ... - Vail Daily