SALT LAKE CITY – Less than a quarter of the reported 127,375 doses of COVID-19 vaccines received in Utah have been used to vaccinate health workers and residents and staff at long-term care facilities by the end of the year.
“The initial launch of the vaccine was slow, slower than anticipated, slower than we wanted,” said Rich Lakin, director of the Utah Department of Health’s immunization program. “We expect to be at a much faster pace in the next 15 days.”
Vaccines began on December 15 in Salt Lake City, at the University of Utah Hospital and at LDS Hospital at Intermountain Healthcare, and have spread across the state now that a second vaccine is available and does not need special refrigeration.
Nationally, vaccine launch fell short of projections, with just under 2.8 million people receiving injections, despite more than 12.4 million doses being delivered on Wednesday, but Utah is already starting to speed up the process , said health department spokesman Tom Hudachko.
He said on Thursday that more than 6,000 additional doses were administered in Utah, double the daily increases earlier in the week. What is making a difference, Hudachko said, is that local health departments, including tribal clinics and long-term care facilities, are able to administer doses much faster than hospitals.
In Davis County, a massive drive-thru clinic at the Legacy Events Center is able to vaccinate 28 health workers at an appointment time, he said. In long-term care facilities, CVS and Walgreens and other contractors are rapidly inoculating residents and employees.
At the state’s largest medical provider, Intermountain Healthcare, 20,000 of the 38,000 caregivers are expected to be vaccinated by the end of the week, said spokesman Glen Beeby. He said vaccines, which started with workers in intensive care units and emergency rooms, are now open to all employees.
The University of Utah Health vaccinated about 8,300 of its approximately 17,000 employees, prioritizing first-rate health teams, said public relations director Kathy Wilets.
The federal government left it up to states to determine who would be vaccinated and when, and Utah Governor Gary Herbert added teachers and school staff to the priority list. Hudachko said they should start shooting in the week of January 25, after police, prison guards and others in protection services.
This should complete the first phase of distribution of the vaccine in the state. The health department recently announced that Utahns aged 75 and over will be at the top of the list when the second round of vaccination begins, probably in mid-February.
Others being considered for prioritization include older Utahns; those with underlying medical conditions; tribal reserve communities; prisoners and others living in congregated environments; and racial and ethnic groups most at risk of contracting the deadly virus.
State health officials said it may be July before vaccines are available to all Utahns.
The state monitors the distribution of vaccines by health district. So far, Salt Lake County has received the majority of doses, almost 64,000, and administered more than 13,400 injections according to the latest data, followed by Utah County, which used more than 3,800 of more than 18,400 doses.
A total of 30,200 vaccinations were reported in Utah by Thursday, although the health department says the number of people who were vaccinated is likely to be seven days or more behind the number of vaccines sent to the state.
Utah’s vaccine allocation next week is 33,575 doses, Hudachko said.
Contributing: Wendy Leonard