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Pueblo, Fremont counties have among Colorado’s highest COVID transmission rates, CDC says

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) -- The holiday season and limited vaccination options are combining to significantly increase the spread of the COVID-19 virus in 16 Colorado counties, according to a report Friday from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

According to the report, Pueblo and Fremont counties in southern Colorado are among those having high community levels of the virus.

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This development comes after Pueblo County closed its vaccination site at the Pueblo Mall this weekend, and the Food and Drug Administration stopped authorizing the last antibody available in the U.S. that was one of the most effective treatments for COVID.

The CDC says that antibody treatments have become less effective as the virus continues to change; some antiviral drugs remain effective if taken soon after infection.

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People traveling during the holidays and gathering in large groups is contributing to the spread of COVID, the CDC says; the agency advises people who plan to travel consider wearing masks, get tested often and obtain a COVID booster shot.

Randy Evetts, the director of Pueblo County's health department, said that closing the vaccination site there wasn't his decision.

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"The vaccination center has been operated through a contract through the State of Colorado, and the funding for this kind of activity is diminishing, and so the state has made the decision to close the site," he explained. "But the numbers at the vaccination site were getting to be very small, and hospitalizations are down even though the transmission rate is up."

Evetts added that the current COVID spike doesn't warrant further action.

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"Many pharmacies are located closer to where people live than the current site, actually," he said. "So we don't believe it's going to have a tremendous impact. But we will continue to monitor that and have those discussions with the state as we get more data."

Fremont County health officials said that its COVID numbers include inmates at several prisons in the area, likely contributing to the spike there; data released by the county shows that around a third of all county cases are at Department of Corrections facilities.

State of Colorado

The state's mobile vaccine van will be in both counties during December; for the schedule, visit: https://www.mobilevax.us/southeast.

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Scott Harrison

Scott is a reporter for KRDO. Learn more about Scott here.

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