"We are facing a crisis-level shortage of these essential supplies to protect our health care workers and first responders," Governor Jared Polis stated to Vice President Mike Pence.

It's been a battle for Colorado to get PPE supplies. Colorado sent FEMA requests for 10,000 ventilators, 2 million N95 masks, 4.46 million surgical masks, 720,000 gowns, 880,000 face shields, and 4.3 million pairs of gloves.

"Colorado's COVID-19 death rate is rising faster than any other state right now; the pandemic is spreading so fast that lags in testing are masking the true conditions experienced by Coloradans across the state," urged Polis.

The situation in Colorado is so dire, especially in the front range and mountain communities, that Polis personally wrote Vice President Mike Pence to address the severe shortage in our state.

In the letter to Pence, Polis predicts a "calamitous increase of deadly COVID-19 cases over the next few weeks" in Colorado.

He ends the letter by pleading “I am asking that you increase the ventilators and PPE that is being sent to Colorado for this critical moment, to help us safely cross the bridge ahead of us until we can start to reap the benefits of our other unprecedented procurement and manufacturing efforts.”

To read the full letter to the Vice President, click