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Director Spencer Cox announced Thursday that Utahns 50 and older could make appointments to get their COVID-19 vaccinations.
He also said younger adult Utahns with certain health conditions could seek vaccination. These new qualifying conditions are diabetes, type 1 or type 2, obesity with a BMI index of 30 or higher, and all with chronic kidney disease.
Cox made the announcement during his weekly COVID-19 media conference, which was streamed over Facebook Live from the Utah Capitol.
“It’s a big addition to the suitability,” Cox said. “This means that it will not be possible for everyone in these areas to make an appointment immediately,” he added. People “will have to be patient, and will have to keep watching.”
He has just asked qualified Utahns to wait until Monday to make appointments.
According to Cox, the state hopes to be able to open vaccinations for all adults in Utah by April, assuming everything goes according to plan.
The news comes a day after hospitals in Utah were shipped with the single-shot vaccine Johnson & Johnson that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved for emergency use Saturday.
Prior to Thursday, Utahns 65 and older were eligible to receive the vaccine, along with people over 18 with certain serious or chronic medical conditions, health workers, first responders, teachers and residents and long-term care staff.
Cox announced that six provinces – Cache, Davis, Grand, Salt Lake, Sanpete and Wasatch – would move into the “moderate” shipping categories of the state. They join seven other provinces that were previously in the “moderate” category.
“There are no restrictions on gatherings in ‘moderate,’ ‘Cox said,’ as long as they wear masks. ‘
Cox also said he “wants to reflect on the fact that we have lost nearly 2,000 Utahns to this treacherous disease.”
Cox said he met the state epidemiologist dr. Angela Dunn asked how bad the pandemic could be. The worst-case scenario, Dunn told Cox, was 20,000 Utahs dying of COVID-19; the best the state could hope for was 2,000 deaths.
“We are very grateful and excited that we are in the best case of this,” Cox said.
Dunn encouraged Utahns to accept which of the three vaccines they are being offered as they seek appointments. “The best vaccine you can get is that you can get it first, regardless of the manufacturer,” she said.
This story is evolving and will be updated.