The airport says a lot about Cortez, Colorado: The single-engine planes that fly into its seat nine passengers at most. The city of about 9,000 is known largely as a to beautiful places like Mesa Verde National Park and the Four Corners Monument. But covid vaccines have made Cortez a destination in its own right.This story also ran on . It can be“We had a couple fly in to get their vaccine from Denver that couldn’t get it in the Denver metro area,” said Marc Meyer, director of pharmacy services and infection control for , which includes clinics and a community hospital in Cortez. Others...…The airport says a lot about Cortez, Colorado: The single-engine planes that fly into its seat nine passengers at most. The city of about 9,000 is known largely as a to beautiful places like Mesa Verde National Park and the Four Corners Monument. But covid vaccines have made Cortez a destination in its own right.This story also ran on . It can be“We had a couple fly in to get their vaccine from Denver that couldn’t get it in the Denver metro area,” said Marc Meyer, director of pharmacy services and infection control for , which includes clinics and a community hospital in Cortez. Others...WW…

Bartenders were pouring Old-Fashioneds at a bar with a bullet hole straight through the wood. Servers in corsets and fishnet stockings roamed the room, passing an old piano that, twice a week, fills the building with ragtime tunes.This story also ran on . It can beIt was a Friday evening at the Diamond Belle Saloon on the main drag in Durango, Colorado. Outside, a man in boots, a cowboy hat and a button-down vest adorned with a U.S. marshal badge patrolled the block, eyes scanning the streets for trouble. If trouble were to appear, it would likely take the form of errant Texans.“You can’t...…Bartenders were pouring Old-Fashioneds at a bar with a bullet hole straight through the wood. Servers in corsets and fishnet stockings roamed the room, passing an old piano that, twice a week, fills the building with ragtime tunes.This story also ran on . It can beIt was a Friday evening at the Diamond Belle Saloon on the main drag in Durango, Colorado. Outside, a man in boots, a cowboy hat and a button-down vest adorned with a U.S. marshal badge patrolled the block, eyes scanning the streets for trouble. If trouble were to appear, it would likely take the form of errant Texans.“You can’t...WW…

Polls show Americans are increasingly interested in getting vaccinated against covid-19, but such surveys are largely national, leaving a big question: When the vaccines become available to the general public, will enough people get it in your county, city or neighborhood to keep your community safe?This story also ran on . It can beData on childhood vaccines, such as the one that protects against measles, mumps and rubella, provide hints. They show that the collective protection known as can break down in pockets where not enough people choose to be immunized. Experts say of the population...…Polls show Americans are increasingly interested in getting vaccinated against covid-19, but such surveys are largely national, leaving a big question: When the vaccines become available to the general public, will enough people get it in your county, city or neighborhood to keep your community safe?This story also ran on . It can beData on childhood vaccines, such as the one that protects against measles, mumps and rubella, provide hints. They show that the collective protection known as can break down in pockets where not enough people choose to be immunized. Experts say of the population...WW…

This story also ran on . It can beBingo is back in the dining room. In-person visits have returned, too, though with masks and plexiglass. The Haven Assisted Living Facility’s residents are even planning a field trip for a private movie screening once they’ve all gotten their second round of covid-19 vaccines.Such changes are small but meaningful to residents in the Hayden, Colorado, long-term care home, and they’re due mostly to the arrival of the vaccine.While the vaccine rollout has hit snags across the U.S., including in many large urban areas, some rural counties — with their smaller...…This story also ran on . It can beBingo is back in the dining room. In-person visits have returned, too, though with masks and plexiglass. The Haven Assisted Living Facility’s residents are even planning a field trip for a private movie screening once they’ve all gotten their second round of covid-19 vaccines.Such changes are small but meaningful to residents in the Hayden, Colorado, long-term care home, and they’re due mostly to the arrival of the vaccine.While the vaccine rollout has hit snags across the U.S., including in many large urban areas, some rural counties — with their smaller...WW…

As Los Angeles hospitals give record numbers of covid patients oxygen, the systems and equipment needed to deliver the life-sustaining gas are faltering.This story also ran on . It can beIt’s gotten so bad that Los Angeles County officials are warning paramedics to conserve it. Some hospitals are having to delay releasing patients as they don’t have enough oxygen equipment to send home with them.“Everybody is worried about what’s going to happen in the next week or so,” said Cathy Chidester, director of the L.A. County Emergency Medical Services Agency.Oxygen, which makes up 21% of the...…As Los Angeles hospitals give record numbers of covid patients oxygen, the systems and equipment needed to deliver the life-sustaining gas are faltering.This story also ran on . It can beIt’s gotten so bad that Los Angeles County officials are warning paramedics to conserve it. Some hospitals are having to delay releasing patients as they don’t have enough oxygen equipment to send home with them.“Everybody is worried about what’s going to happen in the next week or so,” said Cathy Chidester, director of the L.A. County Emergency Medical Services Agency.Oxygen, which makes up 21% of the...WW…

This story also ran on . It can beERIE, Colo. — Whenever Larry Kelderman looks up from the car he’s fixing and peers across the street, he’s looking across a border. His town of 28,000 straddles two counties, separated by County Line Road.Kelderman’s auto repair business is in Boulder County, whose officials are sticklers for public health and have topped the county with instructions on how to report COVID violations. Kelderman lives in Weld County, where officials to enforce public health rules.Weld County’s test positivity rate is twice that of its neighbor, but Kelderman is pretty clear...…This story also ran on . It can beERIE, Colo. — Whenever Larry Kelderman looks up from the car he’s fixing and peers across the street, he’s looking across a border. His town of 28,000 straddles two counties, separated by County Line Road.Kelderman’s auto repair business is in Boulder County, whose officials are sticklers for public health and have topped the county with instructions on how to report COVID violations. Kelderman lives in Weld County, where officials to enforce public health rules.Weld County’s test positivity rate is twice that of its neighbor, but Kelderman is pretty clear...WW…

This story also ran on .In the final weeks before the Nov. 3 election, supporters of a down-in-the-weeds to overturn a tax law in Colorado received a cascade of big checks, for a grand total of more than $2 million.All came from Kent Thiry, the former CEO of DaVita, one of the kidney care companies in the country. This was not the first time he donated big to a ballot initiative aimed at tweaking the nitty-gritty details of how Colorado functions. Nor will it be the last.Thiry has at least $5.9 million to Colorado ballot measures since 2011 — and all of them won, according to a KHN review...…This story also ran on .In the final weeks before the Nov. 3 election, supporters of a down-in-the-weeds to overturn a tax law in Colorado received a cascade of big checks, for a grand total of more than $2 million.All came from Kent Thiry, the former CEO of DaVita, one of the kidney care companies in the country. This was not the first time he donated big to a ballot initiative aimed at tweaking the nitty-gritty details of how Colorado functions. Nor will it be the last.Thiry has at least $5.9 million to Colorado ballot measures since 2011 — and all of them won, according to a KHN review...WW…

This story also ran on .[UPDATED at 2:30 p.m. ET]DENVER — In March, Claire Tripeny was watching her dream job fall apart. She’d been working as an intensive care nurse at St. Anthony Hospital in Lakewood, Colorado, and loved it, despite the mediocre pay for the region. But when COVID-19 hit, that calculation changed.She remembers her employers telling her and her colleagues to “suck it up” as they struggled to care for six patients each and patched their protective gear with tape until it fully fell apart. The $800 or so a week she took home no longer felt worth it.“I was not sleeping and...…This story also ran on .[UPDATED at 2:30 p.m. ET]DENVER — In March, Claire Tripeny was watching her dream job fall apart. She’d been working as an intensive care nurse at St. Anthony Hospital in Lakewood, Colorado, and loved it, despite the mediocre pay for the region. But when COVID-19 hit, that calculation changed.She remembers her employers telling her and her colleagues to “suck it up” as they struggled to care for six patients each and patched their protective gear with tape until it fully fell apart. The $800 or so a week she took home no longer felt worth it.“I was not sleeping and...WW…

The app builders had planned for pranksters, ensuring that only people with verified COVID-19 cases could trigger an alert. They’d planned for heavy criticism about privacy, in many cases making the features as bare-bones as possible. But, as more states roll out smartphone contact-tracing technology, other challenges are emerging. Namely, human nature.The problem starts with downloads. calls it the “chicken-and-egg” issue: The system works only if a lot of people buy into it, but people will buy into it only if they know it works.“Accuracy of the system ends up increasing trust, but it is...…The app builders had planned for pranksters, ensuring that only people with verified COVID-19 cases could trigger an alert. They’d planned for heavy criticism about privacy, in many cases making the features as bare-bones as possible. But, as more states roll out smartphone contact-tracing technology, other challenges are emerging. Namely, human nature.The problem starts with downloads. calls it the “chicken-and-egg” issue: The system works only if a lot of people buy into it, but people will buy into it only if they know it works.“Accuracy of the system ends up increasing trust, but it is...WW…

This story also ran on .’s mornings now often start at 4 a.m., scanning the contents of undergraduates’ feces. Specifically, scanning the data on how much coronavirus they flushed into the shadows, destined to be extracted from 17 manholes connected to dorm buildings on Colorado State University’s Fort Collins campus.“There are quite extensive numbers of poop jokes,” said Wilusz, a CSU molecular biologist.Emerging research infected people start shedding the coronavirus in their poop early in their infection, and possibly they begin shedding it from their mouths and noses. “It means that we...…This story also ran on .’s mornings now often start at 4 a.m., scanning the contents of undergraduates’ feces. Specifically, scanning the data on how much coronavirus they flushed into the shadows, destined to be extracted from 17 manholes connected to dorm buildings on Colorado State University’s Fort Collins campus.“There are quite extensive numbers of poop jokes,” said Wilusz, a CSU molecular biologist.Emerging research infected people start shedding the coronavirus in their poop early in their infection, and possibly they begin shedding it from their mouths and noses. “It means that we...WW…