DENVER — Employees at Colorado hospitals and other health care facilities will be required to get vaccinated against COVID-19 under an emergency rule adopted Monday night by the state’s Board of Heath at the behest of Gov. Jared Polis.

The rule, enacted after a contentious hearing, requires health care workers at thousands of facilities to get their first dose of vaccine no later than Sept. 30, though state regulators indicated they will be lenient about the deadline.

The panel will meet in October to finalize the rule, the latest effort by the state to battle a spike in coronavirus cases caused by an explosion of the more contagious delta variant across the nation. Colorado’s COVID-19 hospitalizations are at their highest level since January and there are no signs of the surge abating.

About 3,800 facilities will be affected by the policy. The state estimates that approximately 30% of the health care workforce in the facilities and agencies that will be subject to the new rule remain unvaccinated.

“With the rise in the delta variant, ensuring that all workers in licensed healthcare facilities are vaccinated is one of the most effective means the state can take to protect the public health, safety and welfare of all Coloradans and end this ongoing pandemic,” the state Health Department said in a news release.

Read more at ColoradoSun.com.