(The Center Square) – Colorado Governor Jared Polis said Monday that the general public will be eligible for COVID-19 vaccines starting on Friday.

While eligibility will be expanded to every Coloradan age 16 and up, it will still take six to eight weeks for distribution, the governor said. 

“We expect that there is enough vaccine to get every Coloradan who wants a vaccine done by the end of May,” Polis said. 

The governor previously estimated the general public’s vaccine eligibility would be mid-April.

The expansion comes as the federal government continues to distribute vaccines, with Colorado receiving more than 400,000 vaccines this week to distribute, Polis said. 

“Achieving the level of immunity that we hope to in the next month or two in ending the pandemic really takes all of us working together,” he said. 

Almost 80% of Coloradans ages 70 and up have been vaccinated already, according to the governor, while nearly 1 million people have been fully vaccinated.

Polis also said mobile vaccination buses will begin to launch in the coming weeks with a focus on underserved rural or urban populations.

A sixth community vaccination site will also open Thursday at the Ball Arena in Denver, he announced.