State Watch

Colorado loosens restrictions on antibody treatment, holds off on mask mandate

Colorado announced on Friday it will be loosening its restrictions on antibody treatment amid rising cases in the state but did not implement a mask mandate.

Colorado has largely avoided a statewide mask mandate and kept that position in a Friday announcement from Gov. Jared Polis (D).

Colorado has not implemented a vaccine or mask mandate, leaving it up to individual businesses to create their own policies. 

The state government is expanding access to monoclonal antibody treatment in a move that will strengthen the provider network and deploy more mobile buses for the treatment. 

The state will also expand hospital capacities to help with rising COVID-19 cases. 

“We are working to lessen the pandemic’s impact on Coloradans and our health care system. We’re scaling up monoclonal treatment, partnering with municipalities to make indoor events safer with vaccine requirements or proof of a negative test, increasing hospital capacity, and are laser-focused on getting more boosters and vaccines into arms,” Polis stated. 

The state has given one dose of the vaccine to 81 percent of its eligible population. 

Eighty-two percent of coronavirus-related hospitalizations in Colorado are among the roughly 20 percent of residents who are unvaccinated.

Colorado has also offered booster shots to all adults, not just the elderly and the immunocompromised.