Photo illustration. | Photo by Ridofranz, iStock / Getty Images Plus, St. George News
ST. GEORGE – The timeline for when people in Utah will receive the COVID-19 vaccine has changed. People aged 75 and over have been promoted, while the occupation of a person as an essential worker will no longer be considered as a criterion for prioritizing vaccines. It was also clarified when teachers and patients and long-term care workers will receive the vaccine.
The Utah Department of Health announced Monday morning that all Utahns aged 75 and over have been moved to the start of phase 2 of the vaccine distribution. Currently, phase 1 continues. It all started with the frontline team at the Dixie Regional Medical Center team and will expand this week to all medical staff across the state, including staff from other medical facilities in southern Utah, including Cedar City Hospital.
So far, Dr. Todd Vento, an infectious disease specialist at Intermountain Healthcare, said that the main complaint from those receiving the vaccine is pain in the arm. However, the more serious short-term side effects of the vaccine – including fever and chills for up to 48 hours – were observed after the second application of the vaccine, which needs to be administered no later than 21 days after the first.
Elementary and high school teachers and staff and long-term care staff and patients will be next, right now, in the middle of next month. The first respondents will be ready after that to end phase 1 in early February. Phase 2 would begin in mid-February for anyone aged 75 and over who wanted the vaccine.
“As we move into phase 2 of our vaccination program, it just makes more sense to vaccinate those who are most at risk of hospitalization and death first,” said Governor Gary Herbert in a statement. “We will continue to refine our plans and move forward on the principle that those who suffer the most should be vaccinated first.”
Vento said that starting at age 75, instead of any previous age, makes sense.
“This is really important. This group is the most at risk group, ”said Vento. “The sooner we start doing these things, we will probably see a reduction in hospitalizations in a matter of months.”
According to the Utah Department of Health, those aged 85 and over represent the majority, 26.5%, of COVID-19 hospitalizations in the state and more than four times more likely to die than any other age group.
Previously, occupation would be a category for determining who would be vaccinated. Essential workers – considered those in the grocery, food service, utilities and transportation industries – were considered a priority. However, the health department is now choosing to prioritize based on age and other risk factors, a welcome measure by incoming governor, Spencer Cox.
“Focusing on age will do more to reduce infections and relieve hospitalizations than any other category of individuals, as we continue to administer vaccines,” said Cox. “I am very supportive of this change and I know it will save lives.”
Essential workers will now need to wait until the vaccine is released to the general population, which is expected to occur between April and June.
The health department is still determining the order of those who will receive the vaccine among high-risk groups after age 75 or older.
Vaccine supply has grown more slowly than expected, with fewer supplies than expected at the federal level. Considering that at least 15,000 doses have been promised for southern Utah so far, the Utah Department of Health said the area received 7,325 doses at this time.
The supply may receive a boost soon, as President-elect Joe Biden’s transition team announced on Monday that it would be invoking the Defense Production Act to increase vaccine production. The act, which allows a president to order companies to prioritize a particular manufacturing, was used by President Donald Trump earlier this year to increase fan production at a time when fan supplies were considered low – something that has not been a problem since then.
Health workers are receiving vaccine supplies sent directly to hospitals.
St. George News learned that some local long-term care centers have been informed that they will receive supplies of the vaccine on January 15. These vaccines are being administered through national pharmacy chains CVS and Walgreens, as well as Community Nursing Services. supply of vaccines in long-term care facilities.
Local school districts, including Washington and Iron County districts, are coordinating with the Department of Public Health in Southwest Utah for distribution to teachers and staff. As with medical facilities, schools are not expected to make the vaccine mandatory in the short term.
As for age 75 or older in phase 2, mass vaccination clinics are expected through local health departments – something for which the Southwestern Utah Department of Public Health has already carried out a simulation. Thereafter, the vaccine is expected to be available in pharmacies and healthcare providers, similar to the flu vaccines currently available.
The virus is mutating, but the vaccine will still work
In the last week, a mutation of the SARS-CoV-2 virus that most easily causes infection and is easier to transmit appeared in 50% of new infections in the UK and has already spread worldwide, including being detected at the weekend in Los Angeles area.
But Vento said the good news is that the vaccine is still effective against the mutant virus.
“Mutating the virus allows the virus to spread more easily and needs less virus to enter the body. But they looked at the people who had the vaccine and saw that the vaccine can also make people immune to the mutant strain, ”said Vento. “Viruses are mutated. That’s what they do ”.
Vento said the mutations and uncertainty about whether those immunized against the virus can still transmit it is part of the reason why medical professionals recommend continuing preventive measures, such as wearing a mask and staying away even after the vaccine. be widely administered.
“If you think, ‘The vaccine is here, it’s over’, you need to manage expectations for yourself and commit to the long term,” said Vento. “We are climbing a mountain and we have assistance to reach the top of the mountain. We can see the top of the mountain … but we cannot define a timeline, because if we get to that time and we are not there, we are saying, ‘Why are we not at the top of the mountain?’ “
Vento added that it is too early to say whether when a vaccinated person has the virus, he or she still cannot transmit it.
Too early to see if the holidays will create a new outbreak
With the period of gestation of the virus, Vento said it will take a week or two for the impact of the Christmas and New Year holidays to be determined.
“Our main concern with holiday exposure compared to Thanksgiving is that we spend more time with others between Christmas and New Year,” said Vento.
At the same time, Vento said hospitalizations have stabilized, although still at a high level, requiring current contingencies seen in places like the Dixie Regional Medical Center to continue.
According to the United States Department of Health and Human Services, at the end of last week, Dixie Regional was at 73% capacity, with 22% of beds occupied by COVID-19 patients. Cedar City Hospital was 60% full with 24% of beds with COVID-19 patients.
New infections are also dropping sharply, although Vento has warned that these numbers may not be reliable indicators at the moment, as testing has ended for the holiday and any possible increase in the holiday has not yet been taken into account.
“The next two to three months will be important,” said Vento. “These preventive measures do not change. We cannot rush. “
COVID-19 information resources
St. George News made every effort to ensure that the information in this story was accurate at the time it was written. However, as the situation and science surrounding the coronavirus continues to evolve, it is possible that some data has changed.
Check the resources below for updated information and resources.
Southern Utah coronavirus count (as of December 28, 2020, average of seven days in parentheses)
Positive COVID-19 tests: 18,171 (187.1 new infections per day in seven days, falling since December 22)
- County by county numbers released on Monday
New infections for major southern Utah cities (figures released before southern Utah numbers):
- São Jorge: 66 (falling)
- Washington City: 27 (fall)
- Hurricane / LaVerkin: 19 (fall)
- City of Ivins / Santa Clara: 11 (fall)
- Cedar City: 32 (fall)
Deaths: 132 (0.9 per day, falling)
- Washington County: 107 (2 new since last report: women over 85 in long-term care, women over 85 in hospital)
- Iron County: 15
- Garfield County: 7
- County Kane: 1
- Beaver County: 2
Hospitalized: Hospitalization numbers released later Monday
Active cases: 6,862 (increasing)
Current seven-day average in Utah: 1,969 (falling)
Vaccines sent to southern Utah: 7,325
Number of initial vaccine injections in southern Utah: 502
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