Polis on fight against COVID-19: 'Not out of the woods yet'
DENVER — First, the good news.
Governor Jared Polis announced during a March 9 press briefing that key groups of Coloradans are getting vaccinated at a high rate. To date, the state has vaccinated nearly three-quarters of the 70+ population (the goal was to vaccinate 70% of that group by the end of February, and that goal was met).
The governor also announced that about 90% of Colorado K-12 teachers have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.
Eligible Coloradans can find out where to get a vaccine here. Colorado has made it to Phase 1B.3 of its vaccine distribution plan, meaning vaccines recently became available for the following groups:
- People age 60 and older.
- Frontline essential workers in grocery and agriculture.
- People age 16-59 with two or more high-risk conditions like cancer, COPD, and pregnancy.
To find out who is currently eligible for a vaccine, click here.
“We’re hitting our goals and continuing to be one of the leading states in the country in getting the vaccine into arms,” Polis said. However, analysis from NPR shows that Colorado is 29th in the country when it comes to the percentage of the population with at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.
Fewer than 300 people—299, to be exact—are currently hospitalized with COVID-19 in Colorado. Polis said it was a “great joy” to see that number under 300.
Polis also emphasized recent guidance from the CDC that said people fully vaccinated against COVID-19 could safely visit with other vaccinated people. The guidance also said fully vaccinated people do not need to quarantine after being exposed to COVID-19. Polis said this is a major reason why getting teachers vaccinated was so important.
As for the governor, who will be fully vaccinated by Sunday, he said he plans to celebrate by going out to eat at a restaurant "for the first time in some time."
You can watch the governor’s full briefing below.
But the governor’s press conference also came with a sobering reminder: “We’re not out of the woods yet.”
Polis said that after discussing the party that devolved into a riot in Boulder over the weekend. Three police officers were injured and a car was flipped over. A SWAT team was called to disperse the crowd of over 500 people.
"I know that our college students want to party. They will be able to soon enough," Polis said, adding that riot was a "thoughtless rager."
Polis was joined by CDPHE State Epidemiologist Dr. Rachel Herlihy, who went into detail about the presence of the B.1.351 variant in Colorado.
The B.1.351 variant, also known as the South African variant because that is where it was first detected, is “a concern,” Herlihy said, because initial data show it can evade the immunity provided by previous COVID-19 infection or vaccination easier than other variants.
Unlike the UK variant, Colorado was not the first state in the U.S. to confirm a case of the South African variant. It has been detected in more than a dozen states, according to the New York Times’ “Coronavirus Variant Tracker.”
The first cases of the South African Variant in Colorado came from the Colorado Department of Corrections Buena Vista Correctional Complex — two staff members and one incarcerated person tested positive for the variant. None of them had any travel history, and they hadn’t been vaccinated.
Herlihy said CDPHE models show that 1 out of every 263 Coloradans is currently contagious with COVID-19 (during the November peak of cases, that figure was 1 out of 41). She emphasized the importance of hand-washing, mask-wearing, and social distancing.
"There are people that will catch the disease in the coming days and weeks and be hospitalized," Polis cautioned. "Some will make it, some will not. Don't let that be you."