(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Megan Low administers a Covid 19 vaccination for Margret Maumau during a press conference when the Utah Department of Health is announced to be joining Intermountain Healthcare, Nomi Health and University of Utah Health , to Open the mass vaccination sites for the next phase of COVID-19 vaccinations, on Monday, March 1, 2021.
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With a third COVID-19 vaccine expected to arrive in Utah this week, the Utah Department of Health is teaming up with three major healthcare companies to open 14 new mass vaccination sites.
The department announced on Monday that it is working with Intermountain Healthcare, University of Utah Health and Nomi Health based in Orem to open the sites – which include eight hospitals from Logan to St. George, a health clinic and five health care sites. Megaplex theaters.
UDOH spokesman Tom Hudachko said the state is adding these sites because “we are getting to this point quickly … [where] we were receiving enough doses in the state that we would exceed the capacity of the local health department to administer all doses ”.
“Getting the vaccine has many benefits for you, your family and your community,” said Dr. Kristin Dascomb, medical director for infection prevention and health for Intermountain Healthcare employees, during a media conference call on Monday to announce the release. “Each vaccinated person takes us one step closer to our goal of collective immunity.”
Intermountain Healthcare plans to add vaccination sites at seven of its hospitals across the state: Logan Regional Hospital in Logan; McKay-Dee Hospital in Ogden; The Hospital for Orthopedic Specialties (TOSH) in Murray; Park City Hospital in Park City; Riverton Hospital in Riverton; St. George Regional Hospital in St. George; and Utah Valley Hospital in Provo. People can sign up for a meeting with Intermountain at Intermountain.com/covidvaccine.
Nomi Health, based in Orem, will open locations at five Megaplex Theaters locations: Thanksgiving Point in Lehi; Geneva on the Vineyard; The district in southern Jordan; Valley Fair in West Valley City; and Legacy Crossing in Centerville.
“People will love to rest [the Megaplex] seats during [15-minute] observation period, ”said Dr. June Steely, medical director of Nomi Health.
All locations, except Centerville, are open from 8 am to 6 pm daily. Steely said the Centerville unit will open on Thursday, and locations at other Megaplex units will follow in the coming weeks.
Nomi Health’s pre-registration website is vacines.nomihealth.com/utah.
The University of Utah Health is starting with two locations in Salt Lake City: the University of Utah Hospital and the Redwood Health Center. The university will add locations next week in Sugar House, Farmington and South Jordan, said a spokeswoman for the University of Utah Health.
The university’s health care system is using its electronic medical records to identify patients eligible for the vaccine and then inviting them to make an appointment, said Dr. Richard Orlandi, medical director of outpatient health at the University of Utah Health .
Dr. Jose Rodriguez, associate medical director at the Redwood Health Center in the United States, said Monday was the first day that the clinic on the west side of Salt Lake City was giving the vaccine to people under 65 who have conditions underlying medical conditions.
“Launching a vaccine is taking it to people who are most at risk,” said Rodriguez, who is also an associate vice president at the University of Utah Health for equity, diversity and inclusion in health. “The goal is to reach the people who need it most first.”
To mark the new group of eligible vaccine recipients, the Redwood clinic has arranged for three organ transplant recipients – one heart transplant recipient and two kidney recipients – to receive the vaccine in the media.
Rodriguez noted that organ transplant patients are at particular risk with COVID-19 – because they take drugs that suppress the immune system, so that their bodies do not reject their new organs.
Gus Garcia, who received a kidney in 2018, said “we were all waiting for that phone call” so that they could receive the COVID-19 vaccine. “We are very happy to know that it is finally happening for us,” he added.
As a transplant recipient, Garcia said, he wore masks in public and washed his hands constantly long before the COVID-19 pandemic made these practices common to everyone. During the pandemic, he said, “you had to go up that level and you had to be very, very sure of where you were going, what you were doing. And make sure you have all your supplies – extra masks, extra gloves, extra disinfectant. “
In Utah, anyone aged 65 or over, and anyone aged 16 or over with certain underlying medical conditions – as well as teachers, health care professionals, first responders and residents and employees of long-term care institutions – are eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.
Hudachko said the state is expected to receive a total of 122,000 doses of vaccines this week. This includes the first and second doses of the Pfizer and Moderna versions, which have been available since December, and the new Johnson & Johnson single injection vaccine, which was approved by federal authorities on Saturday and is due to arrive in Utah on Wednesday.
On the UDOH website, coronavirus.utah.gov/vaccine-distribution, Utahns can check their eligibility and find links to book appointments at local health districts, pharmacies or healthcare providers, Hudachko said.