Gov. Jared Polis Extends Colorado’s Statewide Mask Mandates Into June

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Colorado Gov. Jared Polis (D) moved on Sunday to extend statewide mask mandates for at least another 30 days.

The action came in an executive order from Polis, and included a new exception for those who had been vaccinated. “Individuals are permitted to remove their medical or non-medical cloth face coverings in public indoor spaces if 80 percent of the individuals in the public indoor space have shown proof of vaccination,” the order said.

While Colorado maintains a database of those who have taken vaccines, it was not immediately clear from Polis’ order or guidance from the state health department what kind of proof residents could provide to shed their masks. Officials have reportedly been exploring “vaccine passports,” though they have not been implemented to date.

“While we are exploring what’s working in other states, anything we do will be specific to Colorado and our needs,” a health department spokesperson told the Associated Press last month. “A business could not access a customer’s protected health information, such as their Covid-19 immunization status, unless that person volunteered that information.”

More than 2.6 million of Colorado’s nearly 6 million residents have been at least partially vaccinated for Covid-19 this year. Another 500,000 have successfully recovered from cases of the virus, meaning fewer than 50 percent of the state’s residents have managed to avoid contact with it.

The CDC last week said that Americans who had been fully vaccinated could stop wearing face masks in a limited number of outdoor settings when they were distanced from other people, but advised they continue wearing masks when they could not remain socially distant. The agency’s guidance did not speak to situations where individuals could “prove” they had been vaccinated, which would almost certainly require some form of federal documentation.

Vaccine passports have been a source of significant contention since Covid-19 vaccines became widely available. Governors in at least half a dozen states — including Arizona, Florida, Idaho, Montana, South Dakota, and Texas — issued executive orders last month banning them.