Deaths, Hospitalizations Increase Among Unvaccinated Coloradans

ACROSS COLORADO — Coronavirus cases are climbing again in Colorado and across the nation, as vaccination rates plateau.

Over the past six months, 97 percent of the people hospitalized with COVID-19 in Colorado were not fully vaccinated, state public health officials said.

“Colorado, like the rest of the country, is seeing a rise in COVID-19 cases, largely due to the highly contagious Delta variant," Gov. Jared Polis said.

"We can meet this challenge by getting more people to get vaccinated. The pandemic we face today is largely a pandemic of the unvaccinated. Those who have yet to get this lifesaving, safe vaccine remain completely unprotected from the Delta variant, leading to completely preventable hospitalizations and deaths. Containing and ultimately ending the pandemic is possible if as many people as possible roll up their sleeves and get the vaccine.”

The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment released new data Monday that shows how the pandemic is affecting those who aren't vaccinated:

Denver's daily infection rate jumped from an average of 15 cases to nearly 70 Monday, public health officials said. Mayor Michael Hancock announced that all city employees and private-sector workers in high-risk settings are required to be fully vaccinated by Sept. 30.

The delta variant continues to spread in Colorado — around 2,808 cases of the variant have been reported in 48 counties in our state, public health data shows.

Early studies show the delta variant is more infectious — it has around double the hospitalization rate of the alpha variant, according to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment. The coronavirus vaccine is effective against the delta variant, particularly two weeks after both doses are received, public health officials said.

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“Delta will certainly accelerate the pandemic” around the world, F. Perry Wilson, a Yale Medicine epidemiologist, said in a statement.

The delta variant, which was first seen in India and was first detected in the United States in March, spreads 50 percent faster than the alpha variant that originated in Great Britain, which itself spreads 50 percent faster than the original coronavirus strain, according to Yale Medicine.