Colorado has been easing the public health restrictions of COVID-19 in recent months – and is preparing to go even further – as infections have declined since the deadly increase in late 2020 and more and more people are vaccinated against the virus.
It can be difficult to keep up with all the changes, so here’s a summary:
Who is eligible to be vaccinated now?
State officials first allowed frontline medical workers and residents of nursing homes and other senior care facilities to be vaccinated from December, then expanded it by age groups – first people aged 70 or over, then that number was reduced to 65 and then 60.
Previous expansions have also included moderate-risk health workers, first responders, teachers and daycare workers, grocery workers and frontline farm workers and people aged 16 to 59 with two or more high-risk health conditions.
As of last Friday, Colorado has moved to Phase 1B.4 of the state’s vaccine distribution plan, which has made an additional 2.5 million people eligible for vaccines. This includes anyone aged 50 or over, anyone with a high-risk health condition and additional frontline employees.
SEE MORE INFORMATION: Complete list of new candidates for vaccination in Phase 1B.4
When will Colorado move to Phase 2?
According to Colorado’s original COVID-19 vaccine plan, health officials planned for three phases and the general public – Phase 3 – was not expected to become eligible before the summer.
But as state officials continued to subdivide Phase 1, they finally changed all priorities based on age, health, residence and occupation under that umbrella, and made Phase 2 the comprehensive inoculation stage of the “public in general”.
Earlier this month, Governor Jared Polis said he hoped Colorado would reach Phase 2 in mid-April and hopes that everyone in the state aged 16 and over who wants the vaccine will have received at least their first dose by the end of May.
SEE MORE INFORMATION: Colorado will make all adults eligible for COVID vaccines by mid-April
How do I find a vaccination appointment?
There is still much less supply than demand for COVID-19 vaccines, so it can be difficult to find an appointment when you are eligible. The state has created a hotline to help people – 877-268-2926 – and other avenues include participating health care providers and pharmacies.
The state is also opening up more and more mass vaccination sites – although you still need appointments – and a Coloradan entrepreneur has even built a website that finds and lists vacancies for pharmacies across the state.
RESOURCES: How to Get a COVID-19 Vaccine Consultation in Colorado
What changes is Colorado making to the COVID restrictions?
On Friday night, the Colorado Department of Health proposed further changes to the state’s color-coded COVID-19 restriction dial, which will go into effect – with possible modifications – on Wednesday.
The changes make it easier for counties to move to Green Level, the lowest phase of the dial, and remove most restrictions in counties at that stage, including any limits on restaurant dining capacity.
They also allow bars to reopen in Blue Level counties, covering much of the state, for the first time since last summer, and lift all state limits on the size of personal meetings.
According to this plan, the so-called “Dial 3.0” would remain in effect until April 16, when a new state public health order would be issued to continue to limit internal and unsettled meetings. In addition, the previous state public health order and dial would become guidelines that local governments could choose to follow or not.
SEE MORE INFORMATION: How Colorado will relax COVID restrictions under “Dial 3.0”
Is Colorado removing the mandate from the state mask?
According to the “Dial 3.0” plan released on Friday, Colorado’s current state mask mandate may expire on April 4. But it will be replaced by a new, modified order that will facilitate, but not eliminate, statewide masking requirements.
The new order would eliminate mask requirements in Green Level counties for everyone except students in the school aged 11 to 18 by the end of the academic year.
For counties in the Blue, Yellow, Orange and Red Levels, the mask requirement would remain in effect for the same group of students and for anyone in any public indoor location with 10 or more people present. The existing state mask order would remain in effect for all counties that reached Purple Level, the highest level on the dial.
Private companies and local governments can still issue their own masking mandates.
SEE MORE INFORMATION: Colorado to ease mask mandate in April
What color level is my municipality in now?
As of Monday, two counties in Colorado – Crowley and Otero – were at Green Level, the lowest level of restrictions, and 45 were at Blue Level, the second lowest level. The remaining 17 counties were at Yellow Level, the next stage above the dial.
In the metropolitan area, Jefferson and Arapahoe counties were at the Blue Level, while Denver, Adams, Douglas and Boulder counties were at the Yellow Level. Broomfield moved to the Blue Level, but earlier this month he was pushed back to the Yellow Level.
Here are the current levels or restrictions by color of the state and the proposed changes that would take effect on Wednesday.
MAP: Colorado color-coded COVID map
How are Colorado’s COVID metrics now?
The Denver Post tracked a wide variety of COVID-19 data from the state, including numbers of infections, deaths and hospitalizations, and divided that information into county-by-county graphs and maps.
COVID TRACKER: How many new cases are being reported and where are they?
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