{"id":395770,"date":"2021-11-18T23:58:57","date_gmt":"2021-11-18T23:58:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.factcheck.org\/?p=210423"},"modified":"2021-11-18T23:58:57","modified_gmt":"2021-11-18T23:58:57","slug":"colorado-order-addresses-surge-in-hospitalizations-not-vaccination-status","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/2021\/11\/18\/colorado-order-addresses-surge-in-hospitalizations-not-vaccination-status\/","title":{"rendered":"Colorado Order Addresses Surge in Hospitalizations, Not Vaccination Status"},"content":{"rendered":"<img width=\"500\" height=\"500\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.factcheck.org\/UploadedFiles\/GettyImages-1230878412.jpg\" class=\"attachment-medium_large size-medium_large wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" style=\"float:left; margin:0 15px 15px 0;\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.factcheck.org\/UploadedFiles\/GettyImages-1230878412.jpg 500w, https:\/\/cdn.factcheck.org\/UploadedFiles\/GettyImages-1230878412-145x145.jpg 145w, https:\/\/cdn.factcheck.org\/UploadedFiles\/GettyImages-1230878412-355x355.jpg 355w, https:\/\/cdn.factcheck.org\/UploadedFiles\/GettyImages-1230878412-200x200.jpg 200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><h2>SciCheck Digest<\/h2>\n<p>Responding to a surge in COVID-19 hospitalizations, Colorado Gov. Jared Polis signed an executive order on Oct. 31 allowing hospitals that are at or near capacity to transfer or stop admitting patients. Social media posts falsely claimed the order says hospitals can<span>\u00a0&#8220;refuse to treat the unvaccinated.&#8221;<\/span>\u00a0But the order doesn&#8217;t mention vaccination status.<\/p>\n\n    \n      <!-- Button trigger modal -->\n      <button type=\"button\" class=\"btn btn--rwjf-qanda-modal btn-block\" data-toggle=\"modal\" data->\n        <div class=\"container\">\n          <div class=\"row\">\n                          <div class=\"col-2\">\n                  <img class=\"d-none d-sm-flex rwjf-svg\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.factcheck.org\/UploadedFiles\/rwjf-icon-vaccine-01-.png\" alt=\"\" \/>\n              <\/div>\n                        <div class=\"col\">\n              How do we know vaccines are safe?            <\/div>\n          <\/div>\n        <\/div>\n      <\/button>\n\n      <!-- Modal -->\n    <div class=\"modal fade\" id=\"modal--rwjf-qanda-198226\" tabindex=\"-1\" aria-labelledby=\"modal-label--rwjf-qanda-198226\" aria-hidden=\"true\" style='background: linear-gradient(125deg, #ffffffcc 25%, #8cc7eccc, #9396edcc);'>\n        <div class=\"modal-dialog modal-dialog-centered\">\n          <div class=\"modal-content\">\n            <div class=\"modal-header\">\n              <a class=\"modal-title\" id=\"modal-label--rwjf-qanda-198226\" href=\"https:\/\/www.factcheck.org\/scicheck_digest\/how-do-we-know-vaccines-are-safe\/\">How do we know vaccines are safe?<\/a>\n              <button type=\"button\" class=\"close\" data-dismiss=\"modal\" aria-label=\"Close\">\n                <span aria-hidden=\"true\">\n                  <svg class=\"\">\n                    <use href=\"#modal-close\">\n                  <\/svg>\n                <\/span>\n              <\/button>\n              <\/div>\n            <div class=\"modal-body\">\n              <p><span>No vaccine or medical product is 100% safe, but the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/vaccinesafety\/ensuringsafety\/history\/index.html\"  rel=\"noopener\"><span>safety of vaccines is ensured<\/span><\/a><span> via rigorous testing in clinical trials prior to authorization or approval, followed by continued safety monitoring once the vaccine is rolled out to the public to detect potential rare side effects. In addition, the Food and Drug Administration inspects vaccine production facilities and reviews manufacturing protocols to make sure vaccine doses are of high-quality and free of contaminants.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>One key <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/vaccinesafety\/ensuringsafety\/monitoring\/index.html\"  rel=\"noopener\"><span>vaccine safety surveillance program<\/span><\/a><span> is the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/vaccinesafety\/ensuringsafety\/monitoring\/vaers\/index.html\"  rel=\"noopener\"><span>Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System<\/span><\/a><span>, or VAERS, which is an early warning system run by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and FDA. As its website <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/vaers.hhs.gov\/faq.html\"  rel=\"noopener\"><span>explains<\/span><\/a><span>, VAERS \u201cis not designed to detect if a vaccine caused an adverse event, but it can identify unusual or unexpected patterns of reporting that might indicate possible safety problems requiring a closer look.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Anyone can submit a report to VAERS for any health problem that occurs after an immunization. There is no screening or vetting of the report and <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/vaers.hhs.gov\/data\/dataguide.html\"  rel=\"noopener\"><span>no attempt<\/span><\/a><span> to determine if the vaccine was responsible for the problem. The information is <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/vaccinesafety\/ensuringsafety\/monitoring\/vaers\/index.html\"  rel=\"noopener\"><span>still valuable<\/span><\/a><span> because it\u2019s a way of being quickly alerted to a potential safety issue with a vaccine, which can then be followed-up by government scientists.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Another monitoring system is the CDC\u2019s <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/vaccinesafety\/ensuringsafety\/monitoring\/vsd\/index.html\"  rel=\"noopener\"><span>Vaccine Safety Datalink<\/span><\/a><span>, which uses electronic health data from nine health care organizations in the U.S. to identify adverse events related to vaccination in near real time.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>In the case of the COVID-19 vaccines, randomized controlled trials involving tens of thousands of people, which were reviewed by multiple groups of experts, revealed no serious safety issues and showed that the benefits outweigh the risks.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The CDC and FDA vaccine safety monitoring systems, which were expanded for the COVID-19 vaccines and also include a new smartphone-based reporting tool called <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/coronavirus\/2019-ncov\/vaccines\/safety\/vsafe.html\"  rel=\"noopener\"><span>v-safe<\/span><\/a><span>, have subsequently identified only a few, very rare adverse events.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>For more, see \u201c<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.factcheck.org\/scicheck_digest\/how-safe-are-the-vaccines\/\"  rel=\"noopener\"><span>How safe are the vaccines?<\/span><\/a><span>\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n              <p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.factcheck.org\/scicheck_digest\/how-do-we-know-vaccines-are-safe\/\" class=\"small\">Link to this<\/a><\/p>\n            <\/div>\n          <\/div>\n        <\/div>\n      <\/div>\n\n    \n<hr \/>\n<h2>Full Story\u00a0\u00a0<span> <\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Since <span>the<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/health\/health-news\/delta-variant-now-dominant-covid-strain-u-s-n1273214\"> emergence of the delta variant<\/a>, <\/span>Colorado has been experiencing a<a href=\"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/why-are-colorado-covid-19-cases-spiking\/\"> surge in COVID-19 cases<\/a>, placing a strain on hospitals. <a href=\"https:\/\/cdn.factcheck.org\/UploadedFiles\/COVID-19-data-_-Colorado-COVID-19-Updates-1-1.pdf\">Hospitalizations<\/a> rose to more than 1,500 COVID-19 patients, and 95% of the state\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/CDPHE\/status\/1461119877498880003?s=20\">intensive care unit beds<\/a> were occupied <span>on Nov. 18.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-107984 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.factcheck.org\/UploadedFiles\/SciCHECKsquare_4-e1430162915812.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"243\" height=\"219\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.factcheck.org\/UploadedFiles\/SciCHECKsquare_4-e1430162915812.png 243w, https:\/\/cdn.factcheck.org\/UploadedFiles\/SciCHECKsquare_4-e1430162915812-161x145.png 161w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 243px) 100vw, 243px\" \/>To ease the burden on the state&#8217;s hospitals, Gov. Jared Polis signed an<span>\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.colorado.gov\/governor\/sites\/default\/files\/inline-files\/D%202021%20135%20Hospital%20Transfers.pdf\">executive order<\/a> on Oct. 31 <\/span><span>allowing hospitals <\/span><span>to transfer or stop admission of any patients when the medical facilities have \u201creached capacity or are reasonably anticipated to reach capacity\u201d due to the rise in COVID-19 cases.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>But social media posts have falsely claimed that the governor&#8217;s order<span> allows hospitals to deny admission or treatment of unvaccinated patients. <\/span><span>A <a href=\"https:\/\/archive.md\/3tdYq\">screenshot of a tweet<\/a> posted on <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/cdn.factcheck.org\/UploadedFiles\/savagepatriots1776.2-on-Instagram_-Unc...pdf\"><span>Instagram<\/span><\/a><span> reads, \u201cColorado Governor Signs Executive Order to TURN AWAY UNVACCINATED FROM HOSPITALS and Prioritize Treatment to Vaccinated Patients&#8230;\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>A similar claim posted on <a href=\"https:\/\/archive.md\/ozTA0\">Twitter<\/a> reads, &#8220;<span>Colorado now says its ok for hospitals to refuse to treat the unvaccinated.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<p>But that&#8217;s not what the order says.<\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cT<\/span><span>he Executive Order doesn\u2019t even mention or have anything to do with vaccination status,\u201d <\/span><span>Conor Cahill, press secretary for the Colorado governor&#8217;s office, said in an email to FactCheck.org. He noted<\/span><span> that a <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.acep.org\/life-as-a-physician\/ethics--legal\/emtala\/emtala-fact-sheet\/#:~:text=Main%20Points,has%20remained%20an%20unfunded%20mandate.\"><span>federal law,<\/span><\/a><span> the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act, or EMTALA, prohibits hospitals from refusing to provide emergency care to anyone, regardless of insurance status or ability to pay.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>The word &#8220;vaccine&#8221; does appear once in the executive order &#8212; when it says the recent surge in COVID-19 cases is &#8220;<span>largely due to the highly contagious Delta variant and the 20% of Coloradans who have yet to get the highly effective, safe vaccine.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<figure id=\"attachment_210485\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-210485\" style=\"width: 533px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-210485 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.factcheck.org\/UploadedFiles\/GettyImages-1230878412-1-533x355.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"533\" height=\"355\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.factcheck.org\/UploadedFiles\/GettyImages-1230878412-1-533x355.jpg 533w, https:\/\/cdn.factcheck.org\/UploadedFiles\/GettyImages-1230878412-1-218x145.jpg 218w, https:\/\/cdn.factcheck.org\/UploadedFiles\/GettyImages-1230878412-1-768x511.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cdn.factcheck.org\/UploadedFiles\/GettyImages-1230878412-1-1536x1022.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/cdn.factcheck.org\/UploadedFiles\/GettyImages-1230878412-1-2048x1363.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 533px) 100vw, 533px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-210485\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Colorado Gov. Jared Polis visits a mass COVID-19 vaccination event on Jan. 30 in Denver. Photo by Michael Ciaglo\/Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p><span>The order, which lasts 30 days unless it&#8217;s extended by another executive order, is meant to relieve hospitals and help \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.colorado.gov\/governor\/sites\/default\/files\/inline-files\/D%202021%20135%20Hospital%20Transfers.pdf\">ensure that Coloradans have adequate care<\/a>.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The order \u201c<\/span><span>authorizes the Colorado Department of Public Health &amp; Environment (CDPHE) to determine whether a hospital or freestanding emergency department is at, or reasonably anticipated to reach, capacity. CDPHE is authorized to direct those facilities to transfer patients to prevent overwhelming the capacity of a facility and its staff,&#8221; Cahill said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<div>\n<p><span>\u201cThe Executive Order states,&#8221; Cahill continued, that &#8220;\u2018a hospital must comply with the non-waived sections of the EMTALA, including the requirements to provide stabilizing treatment within the hospital\u2019s capabilities and capacity prior to the initiation of a transfer to another hospital, and to provide a medical screening examination to any individual who comes to the emergency department and requests examination or treatment.\u2019\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cuanschutz.edu\/centers\/bioethicshumanities\/facultystaff\/matthew-wynia\">Matthew Wynia<\/a>, director of the Center for Bioethics and Humanities at the University of Colorado, told us in an email that the social media posts were &#8220;<\/span>Pants on Fire false.&#8221;<span>\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>&#8220;We are not using vaccination status in making triage decisions. We are treating everyone the same according to their medical needs,&#8221; Wynia said.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>&#8220;Bottom line: health care professionals don\u2019t punish people for making bad medical decisions, even when those decisions harm both themselves and others,&#8221; he said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>&#8220;Colorado is in as bad a situation as we\u2019ve faced in the entire pandemic, with very few ICU beds open and many hospitals already operating under crisis standards of care,&#8221; Wynia said. At the hospital where he works, UCHealth Internal Medicine &#8211; Anschutz Medical Campus, there would normally be one respiratory therapist managing no more than five people on ventilators. In the current situation, there is sometimes just one respiratory therapist monitoring as many as 15 people on ventilators, he said.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>&#8220;We are bursting at the seams, and it just keeps getting worse,&#8221; Wynia said. &#8220;We assume that over the next weeks &#8230; about 10% of people who are currently in hospitals will need to go home, even though they aren\u2019t really ready to go home yet \u2013 just to open up some staffed beds for really sick people who are liable to die if they don\u2019t get care in the hospital.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>At a Nov. 10 meeting of the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/cdphe.colorado.gov\/geeerc\"><span>Governor\u2019s Expert Emergency Epidemic Response Committee<\/span><\/a><span>, state epidemiologist Dr. Rachel Herlihy <a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/d1-_P5925ac?t=1012\">said<\/a> COVID-19 cases in Colorado had increased rapidly in recent days and <a href=\"https:\/\/cdn.factcheck.org\/UploadedFiles\/herlihyGEERC.pdf\">presented a chart<\/a> showing how hospital bed capacity had reached an &#8220;all-time low.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<figure id=\"attachment_210450\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-210450\" style=\"width: 1199px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-210450 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.factcheck.org\/UploadedFiles\/Screenshot-95.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1199\" height=\"661\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.factcheck.org\/UploadedFiles\/Screenshot-95.png 1199w, https:\/\/cdn.factcheck.org\/UploadedFiles\/Screenshot-95-263x145.png 263w, https:\/\/cdn.factcheck.org\/UploadedFiles\/Screenshot-95-644x355.png 644w, https:\/\/cdn.factcheck.org\/UploadedFiles\/Screenshot-95-768x423.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1199px) 100vw, 1199px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-210450\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">A screenshot from a presentation given by Dr. Rachel Herlihy on Nov. 10.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p><span> Herlihy also <a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/d1-_P5925ac?t=1132\">presented<\/a> a model predicting that COVID-19 hospitalizations will peak higher than ever on Jan. 1 and &#8220;could exceed current hospital capacity&#8221; based on the current trajectory. But she said that an increase in the administration of vaccine boosters could decrease the number of cases.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>&#8220;<\/span><span>I believe California and New York have now also opened up vaccination boosters to everyone, as we did recently,&#8221; Wynia, of the University of Colorado, said.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span> &#8220;Idaho, Alaska and some other states have also authorized use of crisis standards of care, which allows hospitals to transfer patients to each other and to other facilities as a way of balancing the load, and many hospitals in those states are also using staffing models and nursing ratios that we all know aren\u2019t completely safe, but they\u2019re the best we can do under the circumstances,&#8221; Wynia said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Currently, t<span>he Centers for Disease Control and Prevention <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/coronavirus\/2019-ncov\/vaccines\/booster-shot.html\"  rel=\"noopener\">recommends<\/a> a booster dose for certain people who received Pfizer\/BioNTech and Johnson &amp; Johnson vaccines against COVID-19. The CDC and Food and Drug Administration are <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2021\/11\/16\/health\/pfizer-boosters-fda-cdc-advisers\/index.html\"  rel=\"noopener\">expected<\/a> to soon approve <\/span><span>a booster dose of the Pfizer\/BioNTech vaccine for all adults.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<div>\n<div>\n<p><em><span>Editor\u2019s note:\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.factcheck.org\/covid-misconceptions\/\"  rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-auth=\"NotApplicable\" data-linkindex=\"0\">SciCheck\u2019s COVID-19\/Vaccination Project<\/a>\u00a0is made possible by a grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The foundation has\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.factcheck.org\/2021\/04\/scicheck-and-our-committment-to-transparency\/\"  rel=\"noopener\">no control<\/a>\u00a0over FactCheck.org\u2019s editorial decisions, and the views expressed in our articles do not necessarily reflect the views of the foundation. The goal of the project is to increase exposure to accurate information about COVID-19 and vaccines, while decreasing the impact of misinformation.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<h2>Sources<\/h2>\n<p><span>American College of Emergency Physicians. \u201c<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.acep.org\/life-as-a-physician\/ethics--legal\/emtala\/emtala-fact-sheet\/\"><span>EMTALA Fact Sheet<\/span><\/a><span>.\u201d Accessed 15 Nov 2021.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p><span>Cahill, Conor. Press secretary, Colorado Office of the Governor. Email sent to FactCheck.org. 15 Nov 2021.<\/span><span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=d1-_P5925ac\">Colorado committee discusses rapid increase in COVID cases, next steps<\/a>.&#8221; Video. YouTube. 10 Nov 2021.<\/p>\n<p><span>Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (@CDPHE). &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/CDPHE\/status\/1461119877498880003?s=20\">1,526 currently hospitalized (confirmed COVID-19) 51% adult critical care ventilators in use 95% ICU beds in use 2,775 (7-day avg. cases) 9.53% (7-day positivity rate) COVID-19 data dashboard:<\/a> <a class=\"css-4rbku5 css-18t94o4 css-901oao css-16my406 r-1cvl2hr r-1loqt21 r-poiln3 r-bcqeeo r-qvutc0\" dir=\"ltr\" role=\"link\" href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/T7NJLAPYzA?amp=1\"  rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span aria-hidden=\"true\">https:\/\/<\/span>covid19.colorado.gov\/data<\/a>.&#8221; Twitter. 17 Nov 2021.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/covid19.colorado.gov\/data\"><span>Colorado COVID-19 Data.<\/span><\/a><span>\u00a0Colorado Department of Public Health &amp; Environment. Assessed 15 Nov. 2021.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Edwards, Erika. &#8220;<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/health\/health-news\/delta-variant-now-dominant-covid-strain-u-s-n1273214\">The delta variant is now the dominant Covid strain in the U.S.<\/a>&#8221; NBC News. 7 July 2021.<\/p>\n<p><span>Manier, Miranda. &#8220;<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.kare11.com\/article\/news\/health\/coronavirus\/walz-announces-expanded-covid-testing-capacity-hospital-response-efforts-minnesota\/89-9467c090-4464-489e-81b2-6fe4825a8ae5\">Walz putting National Guard on alert, expanding COVID testing options.<\/a>&#8221; KARE. 15 Oct 2021.<\/p>\n<p>Neef, Todd. &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/why-are-colorado-covid-19-cases-spiking\/\">Why are Colorado COVID-19 cases spiking<\/a>?&#8221; UCHealth Today. 5 Nov. 2021.<\/p>\n<p><span>Paul, Jesse and John Ingold. \u201c<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/coloradosun.com\/2021\/11\/10\/colorado-governor-covid-surge-response\/\"><span>Governor prepares to expand Colorado\u2019s COVID hospital capacity, push vaccine requirement for large indoor events.<\/span><\/a><span>\u201d Colorado Sun. 10 Nov 2021.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Paul, Jesse. \u201c<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/coloradosun.com\/2021\/10\/28\/colorado-governor-covid-orders\/\"><span>Colorado governor prepares to request federal medical surge teams, stop elective procedures as COVID hospitalizations spike.<\/span><\/a><span>\u201d Colorado Sun. 28 Oct 2021.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Polis, Jared. \u201c<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.colorado.gov\/governor\/sites\/default\/files\/inline-files\/D%202021%20135%20Hospital%20Transfers.pdf\"><span>D 2021 135 EXECUTIVE ORDER Authorizing the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment to Order Hospitals and Freestanding Emergency Departments to Transfer or Cease the Admission of Patients to Respond to the Current COVID-19 Disaster Emergency in Colorado<\/span><\/a><span>.\u201d\u00a0 Colorado.gov. 31 Oct. 2021.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Summers, DJ. \u201c<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/kdvr.com\/news\/data\/colorado-icu-bed-use-rates\/\"><span>Colorado, Arizona ICU bed use rates reach levels exceeding neighboring states.\u201d<\/span><\/a><span> Fox13. 9 Nov 2021.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cuanschutz.edu\/centers\/bioethicshumanities\/facultystaff\/matthew-wynia\">Wynia, Matthew.<\/a> D<span>irector, Center for Bioethics and Humanities at the University of Colorado. <\/span><span>Email sent to FactCheck.org. 17 Nov 2021.<\/span><span><br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>The post <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.factcheck.org\/2021\/11\/scicheck-colorado-order-addresses-surge-in-hospitalizations-not-vaccination-status\/\">Colorado Order Addresses Surge in Hospitalizations, Not Vaccination Status<\/a> appeared first on <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.factcheck.org\/\">FactCheck.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"syndicated-attribution\">This post was originally published on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.factcheck.org\/2021\/11\/scicheck-colorado-order-addresses-surge-in-hospitalizations-not-vaccination-status\/\">FactCheck.org<\/a>. <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"500\" height=\"500\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.factcheck.org\/UploadedFiles\/GettyImages-1230878412.jpg\" class=\"attachment-medium_large size-medium_large wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\">Responding to a surge in COVID-19 hospitalizations, Colorado Gov. Jared Polis signed an executive order on Oct. 31 allowing hospitals that are at or near capacity to transfer or stop admitting patients. Social media posts falsely claimed the order says hospitals can\u00a0&#8220;refuse to treat the unvaccinated.&#8221;\u00a0But the order doesn&#8217;t mention vaccination status.<\/p>\n<p>The post <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.factcheck.org\/2021\/11\/scicheck-colorado-order-addresses-surge-in-hospitalizations-not-vaccination-status\/\">Colorado Order Addresses Surge in Hospitalizations, Not Vaccination Status<\/a> appeared first on <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.factcheck.org\/\">FactCheck.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4593,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3505,3506],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/395770"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4593"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=395770"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/395770\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":397510,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/395770\/revisions\/397510"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=395770"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=395770"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=395770"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}