Colorado COVID-19 Vaccinations Tanking After Meeting Goal

On July 3, Governor Jared Polis celebrated a significant achievement: Colorado met President Joe Biden's goal of vaccinating more than 70 percent of eligible adults against COVID-19 by Independence Day. And while the margin was narrow, at 70.04 percent, Colorado was one of just eighteen U.S. states reported to meet what's now being termed Biden's "aspirational" benchmark.

Overall, however, the pace of immunizations among Coloradans has slowed considerably over the past week, even as other COVID-19 metrics suggest that the disease is still a long way from being eradicated in these parts.

Here are the most recent COVID-19 numbers from the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, refreshed after 4 p.m. on July 5 and juxtaposed with information from June 27, highlighted in our last roundup. (Note that because of the Fourth of July weekend, which extended through July 5, the span is eight days rather than the usual seven. Moreover, data reports tend to dip over holidays.)

559,704 cases (up 2,929 from June 27)
15,089 variants of concern (up 1,776 from June 27)
901 variants under investigation (up 38 from June 27)
31,838 hospitalized (up 293 from June 27)
64 counties (unchanged from June 27)
6,817 deaths among cases (up 40 from June 27)
7,028 deaths due to COVID-19 (up 57 from June 27)
5,504 outbreaks (up 12 from June 20)

Four major takeaways:

• New hospitalizations are down from June 27, dropping from 374 on that date to 293 on July 4.

• The number of deaths from COVID-19 dipped as well, receding from 85 on June 27 to 57 on July 4.

• New COVID-19 cases were roughly stable: 2,907 on June 27, 2,929 on July 4.

• Variants of concern — including the more transmissible and dangerous Delta variant, which has been tied to more than 73 percent of cases in the state at last count — are rising in a big way. The 1,776 new infections are well over twice the 699 new cases counted on June 27.

Here are the new COVID case totals for the past ten days. Three of those days saw reports of more than 400 new cases, compared to just one in the ten days preceding June 27.

July 4 — 137 Cases
July 3 — 264 Cases
July 2 — 364 Cases
July 1 — 446 Cases
June 30 — 471 Cases
June 29 — 404 Cases
June 28 — 286 Cases
June 27 — 208 Cases
June 26 — 225 Cases
June 25 — 375 Cases

The state's positivity rate is up markedly, too, going from 1.93 percent on June 27 (the lowest figure in months) to 3.68 percent on July 4. That's still well below the 5 percent considered a warning sign by state health officials, but an indication that not enough testing is taking place.

The total number of daily hospitalizations remained above 300 over the past ten days, but was generally lower than in the preceding period. However, the seven-day average of new hospitalizations hasn't fallen substantially, despite only three admissions statewide on July 4. Here's the rundown:

New Hospital Admissions by Admission Date

July 5, 2021
28 patients admitted to the hospital
33 seven-day average of patients admitted to the hospital

July 4, 2021
3 patients admitted to the hospital
35 seven-day average of patients admitted to the hospital

July 3, 2021
12 patients admitted to the hospital
37 seven-day average of patients admitted to the hospital

July 2, 2021
38 patients admitted to the hospital
37 seven-day average of patients admitted to the hospital

July 1, 2021
53 patients admitted to the hospital
37 seven-day average of patients admitted to the hospital

June 30, 2021
53 patients admitted to the hospital
33 seven-day average of patients admitted to the hospital

June 29, 2021
43 patients admitted to the hospital
35 seven-day average of patients admitted to the hospital

June 28, 2021
43 patients admitted to the hospital
36 seven-day average of patients admitted to the hospital

June 27, 2021
20 patients admitted to the hospital
34 seven-day average of patients admitted to the hospital

June 26, 2021
12 patients admitted to the hospital
38 seven-day average of patients admitted to the hospital

Patients Currently Hospitalized for COVID-19

July 5, 2021
336 Total COVID Patients (Confirmed & Suspected/PUI)
281 (84 percent) Confirmed COVID-19
55 (16 percent) Persons Under Investigation

July 4, 2021
330 Total COVID Patients (Confirmed & Suspected/PUI)
271 (82 percent) Confirmed COVID-19
59 (18 percent) Persons Under Investigation

July 3, 2021
327 Total COVID Patients (Confirmed & Suspected/PUI)
276 (84 percent) Confirmed COVID-19
51 (16 percent) Persons Under Investigation

July 2, 2021
318 Total COVID Patients (Confirmed & Suspected/PUI)
269 (85 percent) Confirmed COVID-19
49 (15 percent) Persons Under Investigation

July 1, 2021
315 Total COVID Patients (Confirmed & Suspected/PUI)
268 (85 percent) Confirmed COVID-19
47 (15 percent) Persons Under Investigation

June 30, 2021
310 Total COVID Patients (Confirmed & Suspected/PUI)
270 (87 percent) Confirmed COVID-19
40 (13 percent) Persons Under Investigation

June 29, 2021
306 Total COVID Patients (Confirmed & Suspected/PUI)
266 (87 percent) Confirmed COVID-19
40 (13 percent) Persons Under Investigation

June 28, 2021
311 Total COVID Patients (Confirmed & Suspected/PUI)
266 (86 percent) Confirmed COVID-19
45 (14 percent) Persons Under Investigation

June 27, 2021
302 Total COVID Patients (Confirmed & Suspected/PUI)
262 (87 percent) Confirmed COVID-19
40 (13 percent) Persons Under Investigation

June 26, 2021
304 Total COVID Patients (Confirmed & Suspected/PUI)
266 (88 percent) Confirmed COVID-19
38 (12 percent) Persons Under Investigation

As for vaccinations, the number of people in the state who are fully immunized rose just 46,921 over the eight days prior to July 4, while the week before added 76,087 to the roster. And the number of new, first-dose vaccinations of 34,360 as of July 4 is quite a bit lower than the 40,651 for the week ending June 26. Here are the full stats:

2,974,714 people fully immunized (up 46,921 from June 26)
3,252,697 people immunized with one dose (up 34,360 from June 26)
433 people vaccinated on July 4 with Pfizer vaccine (down 3,784 from June 26); 2,122 immunizations with Pfizer vaccine reported July 4 but administered on an earlier date (down 9,256 from June 26)
230 people immunized on July 4 with Moderna vaccine (down 696 from June 19); 1,699 immunizations with Moderna vaccine reported July 4 but administered on an earlier date (down 2,259 from June 26)
24 people vaccinated on July 4 with Janssen vaccine (down 162 from June 19); 362 immunizations with Janssen vaccine reported July 4 but administered on an earlier date (down 28 from June 26)

Colorado may have hit Biden's target for vaccinations, but the state is in danger of seeing its progress stall.