Because of the high-risk situation in the state, every Coloradan 18 and older is eligible for booster doses for COVID-19 vaccines they received months ago, state health leaders say as they react to the spiraling hospitalization crisis here. 

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention signed off on booster doses for those 18-and-older who received Pfizer or Moderna vaccines at least six months ago, as well as for those adults who got the Johnson & Johnson jabs at least two months ago. The federal guidelines currently call for boosters for those 65 or older or those in other high-risk situations — including health problems or living conditions.

Though still effective at preventing hospitalization and death, the vaccines’ protection wanes over time. Research has shown that a third dose of Pfizer and Moderna or a second dose for Johnson & Johnson significantly increases that immunity.

In a statement this week, the state’s chief medical officer, Eric France, said all of Colorado adults who received vaccines months ago qualified for boosters under the current guidance, given the high rate of spread here.

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“As much as we’d like it to be over, the pandemic is still raging. … The booster will keep your immunity up and help keep you out of the hospital,” he said.

The public health order issued by the state on Halloween requires all vaccine providers in the state to give booster doses to interested adults who received their initial inoculations months ago.

If you received a Johnson & Johnson vaccine, you can get a booster either of the same dose or one of either Moderna or Pfizer. 

In late October, Anthony Fauci, the government’s top infectious disease expert, cited a preliminary study of 4 million people in Israel, which found that 12 or more days after a Pfizer booster shot, the incidence of severe disease in people over 60 was almost 19 times lower, and more than 22 times lower in people 40 to 60 years old.

He also pointed to data released by Pfizer and BioNTech of more than 10,000 people participating in a randomized controlled trial to assess the efficacy of a Pfizer booster after receiving the primary two-dose Pfizer vaccination series. Those who got booster shots “had a relative vaccine efficacy of close to 96%” compared with people who did not get booster shots, Fauci said.

The approval of boosters, as well as that for pediatric vaccines, has come at a critical point in Colorado. Across most major metrics — including average positivity rate, average number of new cases reported daily and total hospitalizations — the pandemic here is at its worst moment in a year. Though COVID-19 alone does not threaten to overwhelm hospitals, its presence on top of other issues — from staffing shortages to an uptick in routine hospital needs — threatens to push the health care system here over the brink. 

As of Monday, the state had nearly 1,400 people hospitalized with confirmed COVID-19. That number has consistently ticked up for weeks, and it rose by nearly 100 between Sunday and Monday afternoon. It has already outstripped projections made by state health experts.

Though experts say there is not one clear cause for the most recent surge, unvaccinated residents and waning immunity are both pieces. The majority of those hospitalized — and majority of those dying — are unvaccinated, while waning immunity is likely contributing to an uptick in outbreaks among long-term care facilities. Residents in those centers were among the first to get vaccinated, but for many, that was nine months or more ago.

You can find more information about and locations for booster shots on the state’s website. 

The Associated Press contributed to this report.