Did you know employers must provide paid sick leave to employees seeking the COVID-19 vaccine? The same is offered for employees who need time to recover from side effects of the vaccine.
Gov. Jared Polis signed the Healthy Families and Workplaces Act, or HFWA, in July, 2020 mandating that employers provide paid leave for a range of health needs. HFWA includes cases for preventative care such as receiving the vaccine. Additionally, the side effects of receiving the vaccine, which can include pain, redness and swelling in the injection site area, and tiredness, headache, muscle pain, chills, fever and even nausea throughout the rest of the person's body.
These symptoms can come on quickly, usually after receiving the second dose of either the Pfizer or the Moderna and possibly after the only injection of the Johnson and Johnson vaccine.
HFWA states employees must inform employees of illness or need to miss work as soon as is practicable. However, that does not always leave much time if symptoms suddenly appear.
Employers can have a bit more control over when employees receive the vaccine through workplace vaccine clinics now being offered by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, or CDPHE.
Employers of any size can schedule and provide employees an opportunity to receive the COVID-19 vaccine in a convenient location. CDPHE will provide all staffing, logistics and vaccine supplies. Employers can enroll in the program by filling out this Google Form.
Currently, Boulder County reports that 66.4% of eligible residents have received at least one dose of the vaccine, 55.6% of residents are fully vaccinated.
COVID-19 cases have dropped, according to the latest data provided by Boulder County Public Health, or BCPH.
BCPH reports 38.8 new cases per 100,000 people over the last seven days which has decreased the seven day positivity rate to 1.5%.
The county entered Level Clear at the beginning of the week. It is expected that the county remains in this level for a 90-day period, provided hospitalizations do not rise above two per 100,000 over a seven day period. Currently, Boulder County registers a rate of .35 hospitalizations over the last 14-day period.
