Utah Governor Spencer Cox announced on Thursday that the state will open up the distribution of vaccines to all Utahns aged 16 and over, starting next Wednesday.
“There will be no vaccine for everyone in the state, I want to make that clear,” he noted, but he said that the state wants to guarantee demand by overcoming supply.
Cox said people should not schedule their vaccination schedules until next Wednesday, so that local health departments and vaccine distribution partners can prepare their systems for a wave of people requesting consultations.
“Please be patient,” he said, noting that phone lines can fail.
“We are moving in the right direction,” he said.
The federal food and drug administration has approved the Pfizer vaccine for anyone aged 16 and over. Anyone aged 18 or over can get the Modern or Johnson & Johnson versions.
The announcement was made during his monthly press conference with PBS Utah, during which he must address the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and the launch of vaccines.
The televised event comes on the heels of Cox’s first legislative session as governor, and new cases of COVID-19 began to rise again in Utah on Wednesday, after dropping to a nine-month low earlier in the week. At the same time, the state health department recently reported that more than 1 million doses of the vaccine have been administered in the state.
The Salt Lake Tribune will update this report