Left Hand Valley Courier - All Local, All The Time

The COVID-19 testing service at the Boulder County Fairgrounds is in the process of closing. The site ended its vaccine clinic on March 20, and the last day of testing operations are scheduled to be March 31.

"We've talked extensively about this as an agency and we've made the choice because the demand for services has dropped substantially," said Boulder County Public Health spokesperson Angela Simental. The Stazio Ballfields site is remaining open for testing at this time.

Numbers underscore Simental's point. According to Boulder County Public Health's website, in the last 7 days as of March 25, there were just over 100 newly tested or probable cases per 100,000 people. That compares to just above 1,000 in the earliest weeks of January.

Simental also indicated that the site could reopen if the need grows again, although hopefully that won't happen. At the height of the most recent surge, demand had grown so large that there were up to two-hour lines at the site, and National Guard members were called in to manage the volume.

Statistics show how busy the operations were over time. The vaccine clinic opened in January 2022 in partnership with Nomi Health and provided 2,071 vaccines, separated into 644 first doses and 1,427 booster doses. The site has been operating its testing service since October 2020, administering more than 200,000 tests since that time.

The county has been grateful to all parties that participated in helping the testing site run smoothly. "The collaboration between Boulder County Public Health, Mako Medical and Nomi Health provided significant support to Boulder County community members," said Chris Campbell, BCPH Emergency Manager.

He continued, "The Fairgrounds site allowed people to get vaccinated and tested quickly by providing drive-through services, seven days a week - just when our community needed it most. We are grateful for these partnerships, and for the commitment of Boulder County residents to getting vaccinated and tested to protect the safety of the most vulnerable community members."

In the wake of the closing, community members may be interested in locating other vaccine clinics or testing facilities. A full listing of available vaccine providers can be found at boco.org/covidvaccines and testing facilities are at boco.org/covid19testing.