SALT LAKE CITY – Less than a quarter of the 127,375 doses of COVID-19 vaccines reported in Utah were used by the end of the year to vaccinate health care providers and residents and long-term care facilities.
“The initial explosion of the vaccine was slow, slower than expected, slower than we wanted,” said Rich Lakin, director of the vaccination program at the Utah Department of Health. “We hope to fit in much faster over the next 15 days.”
Vaccinations began on Dec. 15 in Salt Lake City, at the University of Utah Hospital and Intermountain Healthcare’s LDS Hospital, and are spreading throughout the state now that a second vaccine is available that does not require special refrigeration.
Rural vaccine deployment has not stopped at projections, with just under 2.8 million people receiving shots despite more than 12.4 million doses being distributed as of Wednesday, but Utah is already beginning to speed up the process, the Department of Health spokesman Tom Hudachko said.
He said more than 6,000 additional doses were administered in Utah on Thursday, doubling the daily increase earlier in the week. What makes the difference, Hudachko said, is that local health departments, including tribal clinics, and long-term care institutions can deliver doses much faster than hospitals.
In Davis County, a mass transit clinic at the Legacy Events Center can vaccinate 28 health workers at a time with appointments, he said. At long-term care facilities, CVS and Walgreens and other contractors quickly vaccinate residents as well as staff.
According to spokeswoman Glen Beeby, Intermountain Healthcare will be vaccinated at the state’s largest medical provider, Intermountain Healthcare, by the end of the week. He said vaccinations, which started with the intensive care unit and emergency workers, are now open to all employees.
The University of Utah Health has vaccinated about 8,300 of its approximately 17,000 employees, giving priority to the top health care teams, said Kathy Wilets, director of PR.
The federal government left it to the states to determine who gets vaccinated when, and Gary Herbert, Utah’s government, added teachers and school staff to the priority list. Hudachko said they were expected to begin firing in the week of Jan. 25 after police officers, jail guards and others in protection services.
This should complete the state’s first phase of vaccine distribution. The Department of Health recently announced that Utahns 75 and older will be at the top of the list when the second vaccination phase begins, likely in mid-February.
Others considered for prioritization include other older Utahns; those with underlying medical conditions; tribal discussion communities; prisoners and others living in congregations; and racial and ethnic groups at higher risk of contracting the deadly virus.
State health officials said it could take July before vaccines are available to all Utahns.
The state monitors the distribution of vaccines per health district. To date, Salt Lake County has received the most doses, nearly 64,000, and administered more than 13,400 shots according to the most recent data, followed by Utah County, which used more than 3,800 of more than 18,400 doses.
A total of 30,200 vaccinations have been reported in Utah since Thursday, though the Department of Health says the number of people vaccinated is likely to be seven days or longer behind the number of vaccinations sent to the state.
Hudachko said Utak will award 33,575 doses for vaccines next week.
Contributing: Wendy Leonard