For long stretches of the summer the Front Range has been bathed in smoke traveling hundreds of miles from California and Oregon wildfires and it turns out that long-range smoke could be more dangerous than the fumes from homegrown forest fires. Some initial studies have shown that long-range smoke may be more toxic and since […]
Colorado School of Public Health
Posted inCOVID, Health, News
Why coronavirus vaccine booster shots may help you, and why they may not help society
Coronavirus vaccine booster shots are coming. But are they actually going to do any good? The answer is a complicated mishmash of yes/no/maybe. Yes, they will likely give a little jolt to your immune system to better protect you in case you’re infected with the fast-spreading delta variant. No, they likely won’t do much to […]
Posted inCOVID, Health, News
Colorado is inching toward coronavirus herd immunity – but not just due to the vaccine
Don’t get too cocky, Colorado, but we have some eagerly awaited news for you: Parts of the state are slowly, but steadily, inching closer to herd immunity from coronavirus — one way or another. More than 50% of the state’s total population has now been fully immunized against the virus, according to figures from the […]
Posted inOpinion, Opinion Columns
Opinion: The world is on fire from COVID-19. If we work together, we can put out the flames.
The concept of global health addresses health care issues and concerns that transcend national boundaries and are best addressed by cooperative actions and solutions. The understanding of this concept has never been as important in human history as today with the COVID-19 pandemic. We are engaged in a global effort as we mobilize the resources […]
Posted inClimate, Environment, Health, News
Some of the worst ozone pollution in the U.S. settles along the Front Range. New rules to fix it are ahead.
When it comes to oxygen, the Front Range sometimes has too much of a good thing. On many sunny, summer days the region has not only O2 in the air but also O3 – oxygen with an extra atom that transforms it into a corrosive gas — ozone. “The extra atom of oxygen turns it […]
Posted inOpinion, Opinion Columns
Opinion: Access and information, not hesitancy, are the biggest challenges in getting more Coloradans vaccinated
As vaccination rates decline across the country, a story has taken hold that “hesitancy” or “resistance” are the barriers we must clear to stop the pandemic. We surveyed thousands of Coloradans recently and heard a different story: Our neighbors want this life-saving vaccine — they either don’t know how to get to it or face […]
Posted inCOVID, News
More than 20 Colorado counties are poised to move to the lowest level of coronavirus restrictions
More than 20 Colorado counties could begin moving into the lowest level of coronavirus restrictions on Wednesday when the state implements the latest version of its COVID-19 dial, according to a Colorado Sun analysis of case and testing data. But the state Health Department late Tuesday added new uncertainty to a proposal first released Friday […]
Posted inCOVID, News
Why Coloradans should get the Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccine, despite headlines about lower efficacy
So, at long last, you’ve managed to book a coronavirus vaccination appointment for yourself — hooray! — only to discover that you will be receiving the new vaccine made by Johnson & Johnson. You’ve seen the headlines saying that particular vaccine is less effective than the ones made by Pfizer or Moderna. Perhaps you’ve heard […]
Posted inColoradans, COVID, Health, News, Politics and Government
An Aurora doctor tried to prioritize refugees for the coronavirus vaccine. Colorado told him to stop.
In late January, Dr. P.J. Parmar, who runs Ardas Family Medicine, converted a section of an international business center in northwest Aurora into a COVID-19 vaccine clinic. He wanted to immunize refugees in the city, where vaccination rates were trailing neighboring communities. But in the first few days, he said, about half the vaccine clinic’s […]
Posted inColoradans, COVID, Health, Housing, News
Confusion and omissions dampen hopes for speedy COVID-19 vaccinations of unhoused Coloradans
Advocates for people experiencing homelessness in Colorado are worried and frustrated that neither homeless shelter residents nor people living on streets are included in the state’s current COVID-19 vaccination distribution plan. An October 2020 draft state vaccination priority plan didn’t mention those living on streets, but did include people living in shelters during the second phase of […]