Gov. Jared Polis said Tuesday that massive COVID vaccine sites in Denver, Pueblo and Larimer County will now offer COVID-19 prevention injections without an appointment.
“We will really redouble our call on all Coloradoans to get vaccinated,” Polis said. “It’s easier than ever. It’s free. It’s fast. It’s easy.”
The move comes at another key moment in the state’s pandemic response. The state is in the middle of a fourth wave of cases. Polis announced that 1,963 Colorado residents had tested positive over the past day and 553 people are hospitalized with COVID-19. This exceeds 43 in one day and the highest number since the end of January.
“It’s a race against the clock,” Polis said, adding that about a third of the state’s adults are fully vaccinated and just over half of the adults have received a first shot. He said more than 65% of people over the age of 60 are fully vaccinated, making fewer people in this age group ill enough to require hospitalization.
But Polis noted that “there are more and more people in the hospital of thirty-forty and fifty-twenty.”
In the week of January 10, people aged 20 to 59 accounted for 38% of new admissions to COVID-19 hospitals. By the week of April 11, that percentage had grown to 59 percent, as older age groups adopted vaccines, which were only recently available to Colorado residents ages 16 to 50.
The state epidemiologist provided new information on the percentage of people who tested positive for COVID-19 after being vaccinated in Colorado. Dr. Rachel Herlihy said that number is very small.
The state examined data on “advanced cases” from a week in early April. Among nearly a million people completely vaccinated, only 140 people later tested positive for the virus, which is a rate of well below 1%: 0.014%. Herlihy showed a slide to reporters noting that it works at one in seven thousand.
“Vaccination will be our ticket to get out of this pandemic,” Herlihy said.
Herlihy said those who are fully vaccinated are nearly 95% less likely to take a positive test than those who are not vaccinated, which is in line with national studies.
The governor stressed the importance of vaccinating young Coloradoans now.
“Now it’s your turn. We have enough. Appear and get it. Not only do you protect yourself because yes, this virus can kill perfectly healthy people between the ages of twenty and thirty, who are healthy one day and a week later, ”Polis said. “That’s why it’s important for everyone aged 16 and over to get vaccinated. And the sooner we can do that, the sooner we can leave this pandemic behind in Colorado history. ”
Here’s where you can get your COVID without an appointment:
Denver: Ball Arena Parking
- 1000 Chopper Cir, Denver
- Driving location
- 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., Monday through Friday
- Available vaccines: Pfizer, Modern
- More information
Larimer County: The Ranch
- 5280 Arena Circle, Loveland
- Driving location
- 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday
- Available vaccines: Pfizer, Modern
- More information
Pueblo County: Colorado State Fairgrounds
- 1001 Beulah Ave, Pueblo
- Driving location
- From 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Friday through Monday
- Available vaccines: Pfizer
- More information
The state has two other major community vaccination sites: one in Mesa County, at the Grand Junction Convention Center, and one at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park, in Adam County. In these places, an appointment may be required.