Longmont City Council hears that mask wearing to be expected into the fall

Mask wearing to prevent the COVID-19 spread is likely to continue until early fall when most of the population is expected to be vaccinated against the virus, Jeff Zayach, executive director Boulder County public health, said Tuesday night.

Zayach told the Longmont City Council during a study session that the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment will make the final call on when wearing masks will end. The agency’s decision will likely be prompted by a majority of Coloradans being inoculated, Zayach said.

“We will continue to wear masks until most of the population have been vaccinated,” Zayach told the council. Masks probably won’t be necessary by the “end of summer or early fall,” he said.

Zayach also told the council in the remote meeting that Boulder County does not have any spare vaccines to give. Media reports indicate people throughout the country have been lining up to get spare, unused vaccines.   

Zayach said the lack of vaccine supply is still a problem in the county. The county, he said, has the ability to give 25,000 vaccine injections but is only getting 8,000 vaccines a week.

“There are zero left over vaccines,” he said. “We have not wasted a single vaccine.”

The total number of Boulder County residents who have received at least one COVID-19 vaccine is at 41,635, Zayach told the council. At least 70 percent of residents 70 years of age or older have received a shot, he said.

The county’s seven day positivity rate is 3.0%, according to the Boulder County COVID-19 website.

The numbers indicate that adhering to safe distancing, masks and diligent hand washing are all driving COVID-19 numbers in the right direction, Zayach said. “We are in good shape,” he said.