Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment

Today, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) approved a third (booster) dose of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine for children aged 5 through 11 years. This announcement came after CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices voted to recommend a third dose of the Pfizer vaccine in this younger population. FDA authorized the use of a single booster dose for children 5 through 11 years on Tuesday, May 17. COVID-19 vaccine providers can now begin administering third doses of Pfizer vaccine to children aged 5 through 11 years. A full list of vaccine providers can be found at covid19.colorado.gov/vaccinefinder or by calling 1-877-CO VAX CO (1-877-268-2926).

This authorized third dose will help protect children aged 5 through 11 years as COVID-19 transmission in Colorado continues on a slight upward trend due to the omicron subvariant BA.2.12.1. Some immunocompromised children may need four doses of the COVID-19 vaccine. Find out how many follow-up doses your child will need for the highest level of protection with our COVID-19 vaccine follow-up dose calculator. 

Colorado children aged 5 through 11 years should get their third dose at least five months after their second dose. If possible, children should receive a third dose prior to summer camp, vacation plans, and other activities. It takes two weeks after getting a third dose to build maximum protection. Children who are up to date with their COVID-19 vaccinations may be able to avoid quarantining after exposure to COVID-19. Colorado’s Healthy Families and Workplaces Act entitles people to paid time off from work to take their child to a vaccine appointment or care for them if they experience side effects after vaccination.

In addition, CDC strengthened its recommendation that people 50 and older and people 12 and older who are immunocompromised should receive a fourth dose (second booster) at least four months after their first. This update to their previous recommendation comes due to the fact that, while they have the highest coverage of any age group of third doses, most older Americans received their last dose many months ago and this leaves them potentially more vulnerable to the worst outcomes.

Vaccines are the safest, most effective way to slow the spread of COVID-19 and help avoid the worst outcomes — severe illness, hospitalization, and death — among those who do become infected. The authorization makes everyone in the United States aged 5 and older eligible for a third dose of the lifesaving vaccine. Currently, the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine is the only vaccine authorized or approved for children ages 5 through 17 years.

Continue to stay up to date by visiting covid19.colorado.gov.

Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment

Today, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment issued two public health orders. The 16th Amended Public Health Order 20-38 follows CDC’s statement that the federal order requiring masks on public transportation conveyances and at transportation hubs is no longer in effect. As such, Public Health Order 20-38 no longer requires masks to be worn on public transit services in Colorado. CDC continues to recommend that people wear masks in indoor public transportation settings.

Public Health Order 22-01 promotes sustainable access to COVID-19 testing for all Coloradans and therapeutic treatment for COVID-19 patients. It requires health care providers do all they can to provide testing and therapeutic treatment. This Order comes as the state continues to transition COVID-19 testing and vaccination to traditional health care settings as laid out in the state’s Roadmap to Moving Forward and it will help ensure that equity and accessibility continue to be prioritized.

To help maintain access to testing services throughout the state, providers that do not use testing materials provided by the State are encouraged to provide testing services and, whenever possible, to do so at no cost to individuals without health insurance or who can otherwise not afford testing. Providers of COVID-19 testing services that use test materials provided at no cost by the state can not charge a fee to the patient for the COVID-19 test.

Any patient eligible for a COVID-19 therapeutics should be offered the treatment for COVID-19 after a discussion with a health care provider about the risks and benefits. Health care providers are encouraged to provide COVID-19 therapeutics immediately within their health care setting on an outpatient basis, or if unable to do so, the provider must refer patients who are appropriate candidates for such therapeutics to outpatient settings. People seeking COVID-19 therapeutic treatment can visit this CDPHE webpage to learn more. Health care providers interested in ordering therapeutics to prescribe for patients should use this form.

PHO 22-01 is effective April 20, 2022 and will continue to be in effect until the Colorado COVID-19 Disaster Recovery Order (Executive Order D 2021 122) is rescinded. The 16th Amended Public Health Order 20-38 is effective April 20, 2022 and will expire at 12:01 AM on May 20, 2022 unless extended.

Continue to stay up to date by visiting covid19.colorado.gov.

Colorado Public Health and Environment

The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment released the 15th Amended Public Health Order 20-38, extending the order for four weeks through May 13, 2022. 

This updated public health order continues to require:

• Face coverings in some settings based on CDC Community Levels and, in some instances, vaccination status.
• Hospital data reporting.
• COVID-19 vaccination for state contractors working in residential care settings.

The public health order is effective until May 13, 2022 unless extended, rescinded, superseded, or amended in writing.

Continue to stay up to date by visiting covid19.colorado.gov.

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El CDPHE extiende la vigencia de la Orden de Salud Pública 20-38

COLORADO (14 de abril de 2022) — El Departamento de Salud Pública y Medio Ambiente de Colorado publicó la 15ª Orden de Salud Pública (PHO) corregida 20-38, por la cual extiende la orden por cuatro semanas hasta el 13 de mayo de 2022.

La presente actualización de la Orden de Salud Pública sigue exigiendo:

• El uso del cubrebocas en ciertos entornos sobre la base de las recomendaciones de los Centros para el Control de Enfermedades (CDC Community Levels), así como, en ciertos casos, el estado de vacunación.
• Reportes de datos hospitalarios.
• Vacunación contra el COVID-19 de contratistas del Estado en establecimientos de cuidados residenciales.

La Orden de Salud Pública tendrá vigencia hasta el 13 de mayo de 2022, a menos que sea extendida, rescindida, sustituida o modificada por escrito.

Continúe manteniéndose informado visitando covid19.colorado.gov.

Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment

The state of Colorado announced additional details to the testing transition plans outlined in the Polis administration’s Colorado’s Next Chapter: Our Roadmap to Moving Forward. The state will close 40 testing sites by the end of April as part of the State’s gradual transition from offering COVID-19 testing through state-run community testing sites to traditional healthcare settings and federal programs including the Test to Treat program. Eighty state-run community testing sites with a capacity of 26,000 tests per day will remain open throughout the state. Current demand for PCR testing is less than 2,500 tests per day on average — about 5% of total testing capacity.

“Colorado’s network of more than 150 community testing sites across the state have provided free, reliable testing options to Coloradans throughout the pandemic. We took careful consideration of community needs and capacity demand in determining the schedule of site closures. We considered equity, site traffic and strategic location when determining the 80 sites that remain open,” said Dr. Emily Travanty, CDPHE Laboratory Director. “Now is an appropriate time to begin this gradual transition as we continue to see a plateau in case rates in Colorado, and decreased demand for community testing.”

Similar to flu or other endemic communicable diseases, the state will begin to rely more on health care providers for diagnostic testing, treatment, and vaccination services. Additionally, the federal government has made a commitment to supporting COVID-19 testing through multiple programs including COVID.gov/tests, a pharmacy-commercial laboratory partnership titled Increased Community Access to Testing (ICATT), and the Test to Treat program. Test to Treat allows anyone to get tested for COVID-19, get a prescription for treatment from a health care provider (if appropriate), and have their prescription filled all at one location (if they are positive and treatments are appropriate).

CDPHE is committed to providing a safety net of services to those most vulnerable as a part of a future emergency surge response. This includes a stockpile of a million over-the-counter rapid tests for community distribution, a two to four week remobilization schedule for strategically located drive thru community testing sites and equity testing mobile vans, and testing options dedicated to K-12 and residential care settings. 

Testing sites closing April 30

Aspen Airport Cell Lot (233 Airport Rd, Aspen, CO 81611)

Glenwood Springs Community Center (100 Wulfsohn Rd, Glenwood Springs, CO 81601)

Mountain Family Health Center (195 14th Street, Rifle, CO 81650)

Snowmass Village Town Hall- (130 Kearns Rd, Snowmass Village, CO)

Continue to stay up to date by visiting covid19.colorado.gov.

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Para publicación inmediata

El gobierno estatal anuncia su plan de transición respecto a los centros comunitarios de pruebas de detección del COVID-19 

80 centros estatales seguirán abiertos a través de Colorado

COLORADO (6 de abril de 2022) — El gobierno estatal anunció detalles adicionales en torno al plan de transición de servicios relacionados con las pruebas de detección. Este figura en el documento del Gobernador Polis titulado Colorado’s Next Chapter: Hoja de ruta para seguir hacia adelante. El gobierno cerrará 40 centros de pruebas a fines de abril como parte de su plan de transición; el mismo implementará el gradual traspaso de la gestión de las pruebas del COVID-19, desde los centros de pruebas comunitarios patrocinados por el Estado hacia establecimientos de salud convencionales y hacia los programas administrados por el gobierno federal, incluido el programa “Test to Treat”. A través de Colorado, se mantendrán abiertos 80 centros de pruebas comunitarios con capacidad para administrar 26,000 pruebas por día. La demanda actual de pruebas de PCR, es inferior en promedio a las 2,500 pruebas diarias (vale decir, un 4% de la capacidad total de pruebas).

La Dra. Emily Travanty, Directora del Laboratorio del CDPHE, declaró: “La red estatal dispone de más de 150 centros de pruebas comunitarios a través de Colorado. Durante la pandemia, esta red ha brindado opciones a nuestros habitantes para acceder a pruebas gratuitas y seguras. A la hora de establecer nuestro calendario de cierres, tuvimos muy en cuenta las necesidades de la comunidad y la demanda de suministros. Tuvimos asimismo presente cuestiones de equidad, el número de concurrentes, y la ubicación estratégica de los 80 centros que permanecerán abiertos. Ahora es el momento apropiado para dar inicio a esta transición gradual, visto que seguimos observando una meseta en el gráfico de tasas de casos de COVID-19 en Colorado y una disminución de la demanda de pruebas en centros comunitarios”.

Tal como ocurre con la gripe u otras enfermedades contagiosas endémicas, a nivel estatal, el gobierno de Colorado comenzará a delegar más prestaciones a los proveedores de atención médica en lo que hace a pruebas de diagnóstico, tratamientos y servicios de vacunación. Por otro lado, el gobierno federal se ha comprometido a brindar soporte administrativo para pruebas de COVID-19 a través de múltiples programas, entre los que se incluyen: COVID.gov/tests, una asociación entre farmacias y laboratorios comerciales denominada Increased Community Access to Testing (ICATT, por sus siglas en inglés) y el programa “Test to Treat”. Mediante el último programa mencionado, cualquier interesado podrá hacerse la prueba de COVID-19, obtener una receta para el tratamiento de un proveedor de atención médica (si corresponde), y hacerse de su receta en un solo y mismo lugar (si la prueba les da positivo y los tratamientos son adecuados).

El CDPHE se ha comprometido a proporcionar una red de seguridad de servicios a los más vulnerables como parte de una futura respuesta de emergencia. Esto incluye una reserva de un millón de pruebas rápidas de venta libre para su distribución en la comunidad, un programa de removilización de dos a cuatro semanas pensado para los centros de pruebas de detección de ubicación estratégica con atención a vehículos por ventanilla y para las unidades móviles de promoción de equidad, así como opciones de administración de pruebas destinadas al sistema escolar P-12 y establecimientos de atención residencial, 

Lista de centros de pruebas de detección que cerrarán el 30 de abril

Aspen Airport Cell Lot (233 Airport Rd, Aspen, CO 81611)

Glenwood Springs Community Center (100 Wulfsohn Rd, Glenwood Springs, CO 81601)

Mountain Family Health Center (195 14th Street, Rifle, CO 81650)

Snowmass Village Town Hall- (130 Kearns Rd, Snowmass Village, CO)

Continúe manteniéndose informado visitando covid19.colorado.gov.