Optum, a large primary care provider in Colorado Springs, will start vaccinating seniors 70 and older for the coronavirus next week.

The company, which includes Mountain View Medical Group, is one of the more recent health care providers to start vaccinating patients. Centura Health and Peak Vista Community Health Centers started this week, while UCHealth started shortly after a pilot program launched in December.

El Paso County health care workers are vaccinating those in the first priority group 1A, which includes health care providers working with COVID-19 patients and long-term care facility staff and residents. The county has also started phase 1B, which includes health care workers at lower risk of exposure, first responders and seniors 70 and older.

Optum will be contacting patients 70 and older via email and patient portal notifications with instructions on how to register and request an appointment, said Kalen Carter, a spokeswoman for the clinic. Once patients are on the waiting list, Optum will contact them either by phone or email with their appointment time. Patients will be served on a first-come, first-served basis, she said.

The company could give up to 600 to 700 vaccines a day, but expects to give about 100 to 150 a day based on current supplies, Carter said.

Patients can visit CoSprings.optum.com/COVID-19-Vaccine for updates.