SALT LAKE CITY – Utah Department of Health officials have said they will receive thousands of extra doses of COVID-19 vaccine from the federal government next week.
Overall, this is a 30% jump from previous weeks, or about 5,500 extra doses – a solid increase in light of Utah getting about 33,000 doses per week.
“We were a little surprised to see it,” said Rich Lakin, director of immunization at the Utah Department of Health. “If they can send us more vaccines, that’s great.”
Currently, tens of thousands of Utahns, 70 years and older, are trying to get the vaccine – so much so that health department websites in the state have crashed.
Lakin said they do not know why they are getting the extra doses and whether it will continue in the future.
“Unfortunately, we only know from week to week what the federal government is going to send us. So it’s hard to plan in the future if you do not know how many doses you are going to get,” Lakin said. “I’m really hesitating that we’ll get a 30% jump from here.”
Lakin said they will decide how to distribute the extra doses and Thursday who they are going to. He is not sure if they will be split between the health departments, and they will possibly go to others on the waiting list.
“There are many more than 70+ to be vaccinated who cannot go to local health departments, and if we can reach those populations at the same time, it will also reduce the burden and death due to COVID-19,” Lakin said.
Related links
Related stories
Dan Rascon