DENVER (KDVR) — Colorado’s largest city is doing away with a vaccine requirement for all employees, contractors and private-sector workers in high-risk settings in March.
The public health order will be lifted on March 4 just before midnight. It was put into effect in the fall of 2021 to protect workers during the delta and omicron surges.
“During the pandemic we have made data-informed decisions to protect residents and Denver is now at a place where it makes sense to lift the vaccine mandate,” said Executive Director of the Denver Department of Public Health & Environment Bob McDonald in a press release.
Denver’s one-week positivity rate, the number of positive tests compared to all tests taken, dropped below 5% for the first time in months, and city health officials don’t believe dropping the vaccine mandate will have a negative impact on that trend.
The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment said modeling indicates that 90% of Coloradans are now immune to the omicron variant.