SALT LAKE CITY – Utah Governor Spencer Cox says he is becoming more optimistic about the COVID-19 vaccines over the weeks.
The state will now receive an increase in allocation of the Moderna vaccine, bringing the total number of vaccines sent to Utah each week to 40,000, including the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines, according to the governor. Previously, the state received about 33,000 doses per week.
In addition, state leaders predict that the number of vaccines sent to the state could reach 100,000 a week in March or April, Cox said. Federal approval for the Johnson & Johnson vaccine is expected in February, and AstraZeneca is also preparing to submit your vaccine for approval.
Johnson & Johnson vaccine approval is expected to allow Utah to significantly increase vaccinations, especially among people with comorbidities, Cox said. He plans to make an announcement next week about which comorbidities will make people eligible for the vaccine.
Although it took months to vaccinate each Utahn at a rate of 100,000 doses per week, it is still a big improvement, said the governor.
“I am more optimistic now than I was a week ago,” Cox said on Thursday.
On Thursday, Utah Governor Spencer Cox, Lieutenant Governor Deidre Henderson and Utah State Department of Health epidemiologist Dr. Angela Dunn provided an update on the pandemic COVID-19 at a news conference. Watch the replay of the press conference below.
Vaccine demand still outstrips supply
Of the nearly 400,000 doses of vaccines sent to Utah so far, only 95 have been discarded or thrown away, Cox said on Thursday.
A state vaccine audit revealed that 95 doses were not used, mainly due to vials or syringes that were damaged in transit, the governor said.
There have been reports from other states that large quantities of vaccine doses are being discarded due to regulations on how they should be used, but there is no evidence that this is happening in Utah, Cox added. Although the health departments and facilities that administer the vaccines are required to use doses within seven days of when they were delivered, doses over seven days are being relocated, not wasted, the governor said.
Demand for the vaccine is still greater than the supply in Utah, state leaders said. Currently, healthcare professionals, first responders, teachers and elementary and high school staff and anyone over 70 years of age are eligible to receive a vaccine in Utah.
Lt. Governor Deidre Henderson said she completed her visit to all 13 local health districts in Utah last week. Everyone was instructed to keep lists of people who want the vaccine but were unable to make an appointment, Henderson said. They were also asked to maintain a waiting list of those eligible for the vaccine who could receive the vaccine later in the day so that any extra doses not used that day were not wasted, Henderson added.
While state leaders recognize that securing a vaccine nomination has been difficult in some areas, lists are being put in place to streamline the process and put as many vaccines as possible in the arms, the deputy governor said. Visits to health districts were “very revealing” and a great experience, he added.
“I can’t emphasize enough the tremendous work these local health professionals are doing,” said Henderson.
While demand still outstrips the supply of vaccines in Utah, state leaders hope that will change soon, she added.
“We encourage everyone to remain patient,” said Henderson.
New COVID-19 cases
The number of COVID-19 cases in Utah increased by 1,761 on Thursday, with no further deaths reported, according to the Utah Department of Health.
The health department did not report any deaths Thursday due to a data transmission error, the agency clarified in a tweet Thursday afternoon. Deaths reported to have been reported on Thursday will be added to Friday’s COVID-19 statistics report, the health department said.
Nowadays #COVID-19 update of the case count, zero new deaths were reported. This was due to a data transmission error. Deaths that would have been reported today will be added to tomorrow’s case count report.
– Utah Department of Health (@UtahDepOfHealth) January 28, 2021
The average number of positive cases per day over seven days is now 1,710, according to the health department. The positive test rate per day for that period is now 18.3%.
The health department estimates that there are now 43,187 active cases of COVID-19 in Utah.
In addition, the seven-day continuous averages for new cases of COVID-19 and positive test results also declined from last week, health department epidemiologist Dr. Angela Dunn said on Thursday.
“All of these key indicators are definitely trending in the right direction,” she said.
Although Utah saw these promising trends to start the new year, Dunn encouraged people to continue doing what they are doing to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
Utahns are being vaccinated, but there are still not enough people vaccinated for herd immunity, so people need to continue taking preventive measures to prevent the spread, Dunn added. That means continuing to wear masks, distance yourself socially, stay home when you’re sick and practice good hygiene, she said.
People are also encouraged to update their medical-grade facial cloth masks, if possible, Cox said. Utah leaders are working with President Joe Biden’s administration to potentially purchase more of these types of masks to distribute to the Utahns, said Cox.
“The right quality mask protects the user,” said the governor.
Thursday’s new figures indicate a 0.5% increase in positive cases since Wednesday. Of the 2,000,023 people tested for COVID-19 in Utah so far, 17.1% tested positive for the disease. The total number of tests performed increased by 18,134 on Thursday, and 10,917 of them were tests from people who had not taken the previous test for COVID-19, according to state data.
There are 444 patients with COVID-19 currently hospitalized in Utah, including 157 in intensive care, state data show. About 84% of Utah’s ICU beds are occupied Thursday, including about 89% of the ICU beds in the state’s 16 referral hospitals. About 56% of Utah’s non-ICU hospital beds are occupied, according to the health department.
267,027 vaccines have already been administered in the state, compared to 250,448 on Wednesday. Of these, 43,089 are second doses, state data show.
Thursday’s total gives Utah 342,445 confirmed cases, with 13,279 hospitalizations and 1,620 deaths from the disease. A total of 297,638 Utah COVID-19 cases are now considered recovered, according to the health department.
Methodology:
The test results now include data from PCR tests and antigen tests. Positive results from the COVID-19 test are reported to the health department immediately after they are confirmed, but negative test results can take 24 to 72 hours.
The total number of cases reported by the Utah Department of Health each day includes all cases of COVID-19 since the beginning of the Utah outbreak, including those who are infected, those who have recovered from the disease and those who have died.
Recovered cases are defined as anyone who has been diagnosed with COVID-19 three or more weeks ago and has not died.
Referral hospitals are Utah’s 16 hospitals capable of providing the best COVID-19 healthcare.
Deaths reported by the state typically occurred two to seven days before they were reported, according to the health department. Some deaths can be even older, especially if the person is from Utah, but died in another state.
The health department reports deaths from confirmed and probable COVID-19 cases according to the case definition outlined by the State Council and Territorial Epidemiologists. Death counts are subject to change as case investigations are completed.
For deaths reported as deaths from COVID-19, the person would not have died if they did not have COVID-19, according to the health department.
The data included in this story mainly reflects the state of Utah as a whole. For more localized data, visit your local health district’s website.
More information about Utah’s health guidance levels is available at coronavirus.utah.gov/utah-health-guidance-levels.
The information is from the Utah Department of Health and coronavirus.utah.gov/case-counts. For more information on how the Utah Department of Health compiles and reports COVID-19 data, visit coronavirus.utah.gov/case-counts and scroll down to the “Data Notes” section at the bottom of the page.
Jacob Klopfenstein