This story was produced as part of the Colorado Capitol News Alliance. It first appeared at cpr.org
With the nation’s leading health agency in chaos, federal vaccine guidance facing unprecedented uncertainty and many ordinary people wondering about COVID-19 vaccine availability this fall, Colorado's governor and health officials took extraordinary steps Wednesday to make sure residents can easily get them.
Gov. Jared Polis, a Democrat, asked the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment and other state agencies to make sure all Coloradans have access to updated COVID-19 vaccines.
The health department’s Executive Director Jill Hunsaker Ryan issued a public health order to take several steps to expand access to COVID-19 vaccines, saying it was necessary “to reduce confusion and uncertainty, and to enhance the protection of public health.”
Dr. Ned Calonge, the state’s chief medical officer, also issued a standing order to let pharmacists provide COVID-19 vaccines without individual prescriptions. It takes effect on Friday, Sept. 5.
In a press release, the governor said he was taking action so Coloradans who want to get the “safe and effective updated COVID vaccine,” along with the flu vaccine, were able to this fall without first having to visit a doctor.
“These effective vaccines are available at many local pharmacies and supermarkets, and I encourage my fellow Coloradans to join me in getting protected,” said Polis, in the release.
He said the state is committed to empowering individuals to make choices to protect their own health and safety. “I will not allow ridiculous and costly red tape or decisions made far away in Washington to keep Coloradans from accessing vaccines,” he said.
Ryan noted that since Oct. 1 of last year, more than 4,500 Coloradans have been hospitalized due to COVID-19. In the first three years of the pandemic, the virus claimed 15,000 lives, making it a loss of historic proportions, with a higher death toll than anything that had happened in the state in a century.
“This order ensures that Colorado takes every step possible to prevent hospitalizations, protect frontline health care workers, and preserve critical health care resources,” Ryan said in the release. “Equitable vaccine access is a cornerstone of protecting the public’s health.”
The moves come after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration limited recent approval of updated 2025-26 COVID-19 vaccines to those aged 65 and older or at higher risk of severe disease.
The press release from the state health department said the evolving federal vaccine policy has “created confusion and uncertainty because it appears to conflict with recommendations previously issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the guidance issued by several professional organizations.”
The CDC, under the leadership of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., a longtime critic of vaccines, has faced intense upheaval in recent weeks and days, with its director being forced out and an acting director being named, leaders of the agency resigning in protest and nine former leaders warning the public health system is a “raging fire” and seeing a massive brain drain under RFK.
Earlier this year, just a few months into his tenure, Kennedy fired everyone on the federal vaccine advisory panel that makes policy and recommendations for the CDC. He also lifted recommendations for pregnant women and healthy children to be vaccinated against COVID-19.
“I applaud Gov. Polis and CDPHE for acting quickly to help ensure Coloradans can easily access updated COVID-19 vaccines this fall. Clear, convenient access is essential," said Dr. David Higgins, a pediatrician at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus. He was part of a stakeholder group that helped craft a new law passed in the last legislative session to give the state’s board of health additional flexibility when making vaccine recommendations.
He said vaccines have a proven safety record and “remain one of our most essential tools” to prevent severe illness and protect vulnerable Coloradans.
“This action safeguards Coloradans’ freedom to make their own choices about protecting their health and the health of their families,” Higgins said.
The key national panel, which typically makes vaccine recommendations, the federal Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), usually publishes recommendations guiding CDC policy, availability of federally-funded vaccines, and insurance coverage.
But it has not issued updated guidance this year, according to the CDPHE release, which called that a “failure.”
Without state action, many Coloradans would have needed to get a doctor’s prescription in order to get a COVID vaccine at a pharmacy. The public health order and standing order will allow Coloradans to get the vaccine “without seeking an individual prescription from their doctors.”
“This state-level guidance is a welcome relief for all of us working for the health of the public here in Colorado,” said Dr. Tamaan K. Osbourne-Roberts, a practicing family physician in Aurora who serves a diverse patient population.
“It is particularly welcome news for clinical workers, many of whom would have been denied adequate access to the protection of COVID-19 vaccination despite a high risk of occupational exposure,” he said via email.
“Denver Health believes strongly in the importance of vaccines in preventing disease and will follow the current COVID-19 vaccine guidelines for those over 65 and those with pre-existing health conditions,” said a spokesman for Denver Health, the state’s flagship safety net hospital, via email. “We also are working closely with our colleagues in health to assess how to expand vaccine access to all who want to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.”
CPR reached out to the press offices for legislative Republicans but did not receive a response by deadline.
The Colorado State Board of Pharmacy will hold an emergency rulemaking hearing at 9 a.m. on Friday, according to the release. It aims to make sure pharmacists, pharmacy interns, and pharmacy technicians can continue to prescribe, dispense and administer vaccinations, following applicable Colorado Revised Statutes. Meeting details will be posted to the State Board of Pharmacy’s website.
According to the release, the public health order also directs CDPHE to:
- Issue clear guidance to providers, pharmacists, and the public about the safety and efficacy of vaccines.
- Collaborate with other state agencies and offices to identify and remove barriers to vaccination.
- Coordinate with the Colorado Department of Health Care Policy and Financing to review how federal decisions affect coverage for Health First Colorado (Medicaid) and Child Health Plan Plus. Updates will be shared as soon as possible, it said.
- Coordinate with the Division of Insurance to ensure that health insurance plans under state authority fully cover COVID-19 vaccines.
- Work with the Department of Regulatory Agencies to review and revise rules to ensure pharmacies can provide COVID-19 vaccines.
Throughout the pandemic, COVID-19 vaccines were free or available at low cost for most residents, via the state’s public health infrastructure.
That includes those enrolled in Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHP+).
Free vaccines have generally been covered by private insurance, and uninsured Coloradans could access them at no cost through programs funded by the federal government.
