DENVER | The state will no longer staff a COVID-19 vaccine hotline beginning Jan. 1, citing a steep decrease in calls recently.
Instead, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment is asking people to call the CDC’s free hotline (1-800-232-0233), which is in English, Spanish and many other languages, for information. Residents can also still visit covid19.colorado.gov/vaccinefinder for help finding provider locations, scheduling appointments and answers to other common vaccine questions.
The state started the hotline last January in an effort to boost vaccine rates. In the year since it started operation, CDPHE says the hotline received more than 290,000 calls, assisted Coloradans for more than 30,000 hours, helped schedule 14,000 appointments and assisted more than 22,000 people with updating vaccine records.
“Our call center connected with Coloradans on more than 290,000 calls, providing critical COVID-19 vaccine information and resources over the course of nearly two years,” Diana Herrero, deputy director, Division of Disease Control and Public Health Response, said in a statement. “The timing is right to transition this call center to other available resources, such as the federal vaccine hotline, with decreased call volumes over recent months and the existence of similar resources at the national level.”