SALT LAKE CITY – From next week, all Utahns eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine will be offered.
Governor Spencer Cox made a surprising announcement at his monthly news conference on Thursday.
“Embrace the chaos a bit,” he jokes to reporters.
With effect from 24 March, any entahn older than 16 years will be offered the vaccine, one week before its previous target date on 1 April. The governor said as of Thursday, 15% of the vaccine doses had not been claimed, and he asked people who now qualify to be vaccinated before the demand gets tight.
“This is an important move in timing. It also means that vaccination will not be available to everyone next week. I want to be very clear about that. It could take a few weeks before you get a chance to be vaccinated. be, “he said. warned.
The news was dropped late Wednesday night at local health departments. Lori Buttars, a spokeswoman for the Weber-Morgan Department of Health, said they were already planning to expand mass clinics.
“So far, our residents have responded a lot,” she told FOX 13. ‘A lot of people indicate that they want this vaccine, and we want to be able to get it. We know that the stock will be a bit tight for a Our consignments have been lying flat for a few weeks. But we do about 1200 a day in the Dee Events Center. ‘
Utah foresees an increase in COVID-19 doses in vaccine in the coming weeks. Cases, hospitalizations and deaths associated with the new coronavirus are also starting to decline.
The governor’s move is also ahead of a self-imposed deadline. The Utah Legislature has passed a bill called the “COVID-19 endgame”, which will lift health restrictions once certain criteria are met. But it also lifted the mandate at national level on 10 April.
The bill still requires masks in schools, at gatherings where there are more than 50 people, and private companies may still need it. The Cox government also encouraged Utahns to voluntarily wear a face mask until all Utahns have been vaccinated.
“People are smarter than we give credit for,” he told reporters.
While his office and the Utah Department of Health were involved in negotiating the bill, the governor was critical of it.
“This is not what we wanted. I was critical from the start,” he said.
But on FOX 13 asked why he is not just going to veto the bill, the governor acknowledges the sometimes troublesome matters of politics.
“This is the practical piece that I think a lot of people don’t understand about making sausages,” he said. “We have a choice every time. We can say, ‘Hey, we can veto a bill and we’re not going to negotiate.’ But when I get involved in the negotiations, I have to do what I believe is best for the state, and I have to get as much as I can.We believed they had the votes to dominate a veto for a immediate end to masks. believe it wholeheartedly. ‘
Although he hinted at a possible veto, Cox’s government is expected to sign the bill because it has reached an agreement with the legislature.