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'This Is A Wakeup Call': Colorado Governor Says State Is Running Low On ICU Beds Due To COVID Cases

DENVER (CBS)- On Thursday Gov. Jared Polis announced ICU hospital beds are running low across Colorado.

"Earlier this week we jumped to over 1,000 hospitalizations for COVID," he said at his weekly COVID19 briefing. "This is a very stark reminder for anybody who thought the pandemic was over. That they could slip by without getting vaccinated, this is a wakeup call."

Currently there are just over 100 ICU beds available in the state. Scott Bookman, Director of Division of Disease Control and Public Health Response Incident Commander for COVID-19, says overwhelmed hospitals will affect everyone who needs medical care.

"Surgeries are being canceled. Brain surgeries, heart surgeries are being delayed because of a lack of ability to provide care to those patients because of the impact that COVID hospitalizations are going to have."

Johnson and Johnson vaccine doses
(credit: CBS)

They say the solution is vaccination, and those who are eligible should get a booster.

RELATED: Data Shows Clear Link Between COVID Vaccination Rates Across Colorado And The Hospitalizations

Dr. Michelle Barron, the senior medical director of infection prevention and control for UCHealth, agrees. She says that while vaccine efficacy varies, being vaccinated severely cuts your risk for hospitalization and breakthrough cases are among at risk populations who can get a booster.

"I want to reassure people that are vaccinated that aren't eligible for a booster yet that they are still considered protected," Dr. Barron says.

vials of the Johnson & Johnson COVID vaccine
(credit: CBS)

She also says those who are most at risk of hospitalization are still the unvaccinated.

"If you look at who's getting really sick and having bad complications from this, still 85-90% of those individuals are unvaccinated," she says.

Right now, people who got the Pfizer vaccine for their first two doses, are 65 and older, have comorbidities or that work in environments that put them at risk can get a booster.

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