One concern about potentially implementing the vaccine passports is ensuring they are equitable for all people, said Dr. Matthew Wynia, director of the Center for Bioethics and Humanities at the University of Colorado’s Anschutz Medical Campus. Despite experiencing higher rates of infection and death from the coronavirus, people of color have been vaccinated against the coronavirus at a lower rate than white people.

“With the increasing utilization of marijuana in society as a whole, we are seeing more mothers who use marijuana during pregnancy,” said Erica Wymore, MD, MPH, primary investigator, neonatologist at Children’s Colorado and assistant professor of pediatrics at the University of Colorado School of Medicine on the Anschutz Medical Campus. “However, given the lack of scientific data regarding how long THC persists in breast milk, it was challenging to provide mothers with a definitive answer regarding the safety of using marijuana while breastfeeding and simply ‘pumping and dumping’ until THC was no longer detectable in their milk. With this study, we aimed to better understand this question by determining the amount and duration of THC excretion in breast milk among women with known prenatal marijuana use.”

Colorado is currently in the process of vaccinating residents, decreasing the number of people at risk of being hospitalized or dying from the virus, said Dr. Beth Carlton, a member of the COVID-19 modeling team for the state. “This is really about saving lives right now,” Carlton said, adding that if people do not follow safety guidelines, new strains of the virus could gain ground and increase spread.

Dr. Jean Kutner, chief medical officer of UCHealth University at Colorado Hospital [and CU School of Medicine faculty], said she’s volunteering at a clinic hosted by a church that brings in the vaccine and helps build trust between health care workers and residents.

Dr. Daniel Pastula, a neuroinfectious disease physician at UC Health University of Colorado Hospital [and CU School of Medicine associate professor of neurology], said the outdoor element of ski trips is generally safe during a pandemic, but the virus could spread if people congregate in places such as lift lines, lodges, restaurants and bathrooms. “I think you can ski smartly and safely. Again, not completely eliminating the risk, but really reducing it,” he said. Pastula listed now-common safety measures for skiers to follow, among them staying outdoors as much as possible, avoiding crowds and staying home when sick.

What the impact of school reopening will be will not be known until weeks into the school year. But officials anticipate some reduction in a statewide social distancing rate that in recent weeks has contributed to a leveling of new infections, Dr. Jonathan Samet, dean of the Colorado School of Public Health, and state epidemiologist Dr. Rachel Herlihy said.

Dr. Michelle Barron, medical director of infection prevention and control at UCHealth University of Colorado Hospital [and CU School of Medicine], received an unusual call last month from the microbiology lab: Confirmation of the third case this year of trench fever, a rare condition transmitted by body lice that plagued soldiers during World War I. Barron’s epidemiological training kicked in. “Two is always an outbreak, and then when we found a third — OK, we clearly have something going on,” Barron recalled thinking.

“The goal is to put into the hands of Coloradans the tools that we use to project where the epidemic may go and to allow people to look and see how what they do can affect the course of the epidemic,” said Dr. Jonathan Samet, dean of the Colorado School of Public Health at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus.