Then they will be in the same pool as all other residents who are eligible for it; here’s how the elderly can vaccinate before it.
(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Kenley Hansen gets a COVID-19 vaccination from Kirsten Weber as Utah County residents were lined up on Wednesday, January 27, 2021 in a former Shopko store in Spanish Fork.
But from next month, they will also no longer be at the front of the queue.
“They will still be eligible,” Utah spokesman Tom Hudachko said. [they] will be in the same pool as everyone else. ”
The pool will include residents 65 and older and all over the age of 18 who have certain chronic or serious health conditions.
However, state epidemiologist Angela Dunn says local health departments will focus for the rest of February on getting the vaccine in the arms of people aged 70 and older.
And Lieutenant Governor Deidre Henderson added that 29 Smith’s pharmacies and 18 Walmart locations would receive vaccine doses from Feb. 11, giving seniors other avenues for vaccination.
Salt Lake County Sets a Deadline If You Want a Warranty
Seniors who sign up for the Salt Lake County checklist are guaranteed to be in line as more vaccine becomes available, Health Department spokesman Nicholas Rupp said – but only if they register by February 28.
“We’re going to plan their appointments before we plan appointments for anyone over the age of 65,” Rupp said.
For seniors on the notice list, “we’re going to plan it until February and, if necessary, until March,” Rupp said, “before we plan people over 65 and people younger than those with underlying health conditions.”
Subscribing to the list guarantees an appointment, but it does not guarantee when. Residents will be notified when one is available.
And when someone receives a first dose, their second dose is ‘automatically set aside for them’, Rupp said. “The second dose will not be affected by someone getting a first dose, whether it’s an extra 70 or a person of 65.”
How to get a vaccine at Smith’s Food & Drug and Walmart pharmacies
Utah seniors who are already being vaccinated by their local or regional vaccination department should keep it, Henderson said.
But others may turn to certain Smith’s Food & Drug and Walmart pharmacies, which will begin vaccination next week.
At the shops, only those aged 70 and over will be eligible until the end of February. (Pharmacies will not vaccinate currently eligible health care workers and school staff.)
(Those who do not have Internet access can call 866-211-5320.)
Registration for appointments will begin Tuesday or Wednesday; the goal is to start with a “gunshot” on Thursday.
“Just to be extra sure we are not promising doses we do not yet have in hand, we are waiting to receive them” before planning appointments, Montuoro said. And the first doses are available on Monday. “The best thing for people is to monitor the site for availability, starting Tuesday.”
Each pharmacy that participates will receive about 100 doses per week, so there will never be a large crowd. “It’s not like a mass clinic,” Montuoro said.
People will be told to show up at their appointed time; they will need to confirm the information they have provided online; get their chance; and then sit socially past while they are monitored for 15 to 30 minutes.
Smith’s, who has already fired shots in Idaho, Nevada and Arizona, knows “there is a lot of passion and interest in the vaccine,” Montuoro said.
They sent people ‘to the shops in the hope that they could get one somehow’, Montuoro said. “But we’re not going to walk in.”
Smiths will announce what doses will be available in Utah when scheduling the appointment, and he will prioritize his locations in rural provinces and “underserved areas in our metro areas,” Montuoro said.
Patients are not charged for the vaccines.
Walmart, which will also administer vaccines, “did not land on a delivery date or activation date,” spokeswoman Rebecca Thomason said. “We expect to release a complete list of stores involved in the federal vaccination of vaccines and how state-designated priority groups can make an appointment in the coming weeks.”
What will change on March 1?
On March 1, when the number of Utahns eligible for vaccination increases, no one of any age or health group will have priority over anyone else.
This is the same pattern that the state followed in December, Hudachko pointed out. For three weeks, health workers in the hospital were given preference. But when all health workers are eligible, hospital workers become part of the larger pool.
Thus, from 1 March, we are “unable to give preference within the fitness group on the basis of age. It’s kind of a first-come, first-time for the whole age group, ‘Montuoro said.