Colorado Gov. Jared Polis (D) has declared the COVID-19 emergency “over” and said he will not be ordering another statewide mask mandate in response to respond to the emergence of the Omicron variant in the U.S.
“Everybody had more than enough opportunity to get vaccinated,” Polis told Colorado Public Radio on Friday, according to the New York Post. “Hopefully it’s been at your pharmacy, your grocery store, a bus near you, [or at] big events. At this point, if you haven’t been vaccinated, it’s really your own darn fault.”
“Those who get sick, it’s almost entirely their own darn fault,” Polis added. “I don’t want to say that nobody [will get the virus if they’re] vaccinated, but it’s very rare. Just to put it in perspective, of the about 1400 people hospitalized, less than 200 (or 16 percent) are vaccinated. And many of them are older or have other conditions. Eighty-four percent of the people in our hospitals are unvaccinated, and they absolutely had every chance to get vaccinated.”
“And at this point, I think it’s almost like they made a deliberate decision not to get vaccinated,” the governor said. “I still encourage everybody who hasn’t been vaccinated to get protected. And for those who are, make sure to get that booster after six months. The data shows it’s important and very likely even more so with this omicron variant.”
