Polis Got the Omicron Booster, but Will Many Other Coloradans?

Will other Coloradans follow Polis’s lead? Statistics from the vaccine dashboard maintained by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment don’t inspire much optimism. The vaccination numbers for September 5, Labor Day, may have been the lowest recorded since shortly after the first shipment of medication arrived in late 2020: Four people statewide were vaccinated with Moderna, and none with either Pfizer or Janssen/Johnson & Johnson. And while the figures for September 6 are higher — 135 vaccinations of Moderna, 39 of Pfizer and three of Janssen/Johnson & Johnson — they indicate that persuading the public at large to take another shot will be a tough sell even though infections, hospitalizations and deaths related to the virus definitely aren’t a thing of the past.

Here are the latest numbers from the CDPHE in major categories, updated after 4 p.m. yesterday. They’re juxtaposed with data from our previous COVID-19 roundup, which drew from August 31 stats.

1,637,603 cases (up 6,587 from August 31)
68,191 hospitalized (up 210 from August 31)
13,192 deaths among cases (up 26 from August 31)
13,912 deaths due to COVID-19 (up 21 from August 31)
9,693 outbreaks (up 32 from August 31)

Four takeaways:

• The new-case count of 6,587 for the week ending September 7 is higher than the 6,200 recorded over the same span through August 31, even though daily totals are down. The last date during which more than 1,000 infections were recorded was August 31.

• Hospitalizations dipped modestly, going from 251 on August 41 to 210 on September 7. A separate metric calculates the number of people hospitalized during the week of September 6 at 187, a slight decrease from 195 the previous week. However, an average of fifty people per day are being admitted for treatment of symptoms related to COVID-19.

• Fewer deaths are being recorded — 21 directly caused by the disease for the seven days through September 7, compared to 33 on August 31.

• The state’s seven-day-average positivity rate of 5.53 percent dipped from 6.17 percent on August 30 and is closer to the 5 percent level the CDPHE prefers not to exceed than it’s been in some time. But because fewer results are being shared with state health reps owing to the prevalence of at-home testing, this metric is less meaningful than earlier in the pandemic. Meanwhile, COVID-19 samples sequenced by the agency haven’t been updated since the week of July 24, when 84.81 percent of cases were linked to Omicron 5, 8.77 percent to Omicron 4 and 2.34 to Omicron 2, with smaller percentages associated with other subvariants.

These days, the CDPHE is tracking outbreaks at a very small percentage of establishments compared to earlier in the pandemic — mainly health-care facilities that specialize in senior care. Nonetheless, 32 new or tweaked outbreaks were unveiled in the department’s September 7 report. Although that’s lower than the 37 that turned up the previous week, the Labor Day weekend cut into the monitoring period substantially; no new outbreaks were identified between September 2 and September 6.

Here are the 32 new or tweaked outbreaks identified by the CDPHE, including information about categories, county of origin, and the date when the spread was officially recognized. The department no longer provides information about the overall number of infections or deaths and whether they pertain to residents, staff members or attendees.

1. 48th Avenue — Catholic Charities Women’s Shelter: August 2022, Homeless Shelter, Denver County, 8/30/2022
2. Almar Residential Facility (050142): September 2022, Healthcare, RCFDD Group Home, Sedgwick County, 8/26/2022
3. Aspen House 1 (23J976): August 2022, Healthcare, Assisted Living, Larimer County, 8/15/2022
4. Aspen House 2 (23G939): August 2022, Healthcare, Assisted Living, Larimer County, 8/3/2022
5. Atria Longmont (23L190): August 2022, Healthcare, Assisted Living, Boulder County, 9/6/2022
6. Bethesda Gardens Loveland (23F492): August 2022, Healthcare, Assisted Living, Larimer County, 8/26/2022
7. Bridge Assisted Living at Life Care Center of Colorado Springs (23052X): August 2022, Healthcare, Assisted Living, El Paso County, 8/31/2022
8. Brookdale Lowry (2304K7): August 2022, Healthcare, Assisted Living, Denver County, 8/29/2022
9. Brookdale Skyline (02R487): September 2022, Healthcare, Nursing Facility, El Paso County, 8/29/2022
10. Bruce McCandless CO State Veterans Nursing Home (020636): August 2022, Healthcare, Nursing Facility, Fremont County, 8/30/2022
11. Cappella of Grand Junction (23U246): August 2022, Healthcare, Assisted Living, Mesa County, 8/15/2022
12. Columbine Commons Assisted Living (23R659): August 2022, Healthcare, Assisted Living, Weld County, 8/31/2022
13. Conrad Early Learning Center, Child Care Center, El Paso County, 9/7/2022
14. Elms Haven Center (020474): August 2022, Healthcare, Nursing Facility, Adams County, 8/24/2022
15. Grand Mesa Youth Services Center: August 2022, Correctional, Youth Detention Center, Mesa County, 7/13/2022
16. Granville Assisted Living Center (23045K): August 2022, Healthcare, Assisted Living, Jefferson County, 9/2/2022
17. Health Center at Franklin Park (020439): September 2022, Healthcare, Nursing Facility, Denver County, 8/29/2022
18. Heritage Park Assisted Living (23088B): August 2022, Healthcare, Assisted Living, Garfield County, 8/23/2022
19. Highline Place (23L199): August 2022, Healthcare, Assisted Living, Arapahoe County, 8/31/2022
20. John Thomas House (2304OW), Healthcare, Assisted Living, Arapahoe County, 8/26/2022
21. Keystone Place at Legacy Ridge Assisted Living (23H523): August 2022, Healthcare, Assisted Living, Adams County, 8/29/2022
22. Lamar Estates (020201): August 2022, Healthcare, Nursing Facility, Prowers County, 8/31/2022
23. Lookout Mountain Youth Services Campus, Correctional, Youth Correctional Facility, Jefferson County, 8/1/2022
24. Monte Vista Estates (021023): August 2022, Healthcare, Nursing Facility, Rio Grande County, 8/31/2022
25. Porter Place (2304E7): August 2022, Healthcare, Assisted Living, Denver County, 8/29/2022
26. Pueblo Regional Center — House A (0506XL): August 2022, Healthcare, Intermediate Care, Pueblo County, 7/29/2022
27. Spanish Peaks Veterans Community Living Center (0207YZ): August 2022, Healthcare, Nursing Facility, Huerfano County, 9/2/2022
28. Sundance Skilled Nursing & Rehabilitation (020546): September 2022, Healthcare, Nursing Facility, El Paso County, 8/25/2022
29. The Aspen (23K559): August 2022, Healthcare, Assisted Living, Teller County, 9/1/2022
30. Ute House (05G123): August 2022, Healthcare, RCFDD Group Home, Montrose County, 8/26/2022
31. Villagio of Broomfield (23Z321): September 2022, Healthcare, Assisted Living, Jefferson County, 9/6/2022
32. Westlake Lodge Health and Rehabilitation Center (020317): August 2022, Healthcare, Nursing Facility, Weld County, 8/31/2022