Pueblo Mall vaccination site to close Thursday

PUEBLO, Colo. (KKTV) - The mass vaccination site at the Pueblo Mall will stop distributing the Covid-19 vaccines on Thursday.

The site will still conduct COVID-19 testing, but anyone looking to get vaccinated or get a booster shot to defend themselves and their community against COVID will have to look to another resource.

Local pharmacies and state vaccine buses will continue to distribute the vaccine.

On Tuesday, there was almost no traffic and the garage where vaccines are given was partially closed. A sign outside of the garage door read, “honk to open”. Pueblo County Public Health Director Randy Evetts tells me this lack of traffic is what caused the state to change its strategy.

“The volume of people seeking vaccine at the community vaccination site has dropped significantly,” Evetts explained. “The buses have recently shown to be more effective by reaching into neighborhoods and places in the community where a vaccine isn’t as easily accessible.”

Over 60% of Puebloans have received their full vaccination series. Evetts tells me this is largely due to the hard work of the staff at the Pueblo Mall site.

“Those folks put in a lot of effort to make sure that our community was safe and we want to thank them,” Evetts stated.

Evetts tells me that right now the virus is at its lowest level in the Pueblo community in the last two years, but there are still sub-variants spreading in places such as China, Germany, and the UK. He urges unvaccinated people to seek out the vaccine so the community is as prepared as it can be if a similar phenomena happens here.

“The data has shown that it’s effective at not only reducing illness, but severe illness, hospitalization, and even deaths over time. It’s a significant contributor to keeping people out of the hospital and keeping people safer.”

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