SUMMIT COUNTY, Colo. — Neighbors helping neighbors. It wasn't sugar Summit County was handing out, it was a potentially life saving vaccine.
"It was a very welcome addition to what we are able to do," said Suzanne Boccia, Clear Creek County Director of Emergency Management.
Around Jan. 20, Summit County health officials realized they had more shots than they needed.
"We actually found we were able to vaccinate that population faster than we thought,"said Brian Bovaird, Summit County Director of Emergency Management.
Bovaird said the county made several attempts to contact those eligible in Phase 1A, which included the 70 and up group.
"Whether it was making phone calls or visiting our senior centers to get the word out, doing mailers. Everything we can to try and accommodate a population that traditionally is not as tech savvy as some some of the younger generations," Boavaird explains.
Despite their efforts to vaccinate anyone eligible, they still found themselves with nearly 600 shots leftover. So, they called up their neighboring counties of Park and Clear Creek and split the shot up. Clear Creek County received nearly 300 shots, Park County received 270.
For the folks in Clear Creek, that donation went a long way.
"We were essentially able to almost double the amount of people we were able to vaccinate that week," Boccia tells Denver7.
