How do Utahns aged 70 or older receive the COVID-19 vaccine?

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(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune file photo) Betty Fife receives the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine at Ridge Foothill in Salt Lake City on Tuesday, December 29, 2020. Local health departments are now starting to offer vaccination appointments at the age of Utahn. 70 years and over.

| January 12, 2021 at 2:52 pm

| Update: 5:55 p.m.

Gov. Spencer Cox announced that Utahns aged 70 or older will become eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine starting Monday, January 18.

But becoming eligible does not guarantee seniors immediate vaccination.

For example, the Salt Lake County Department of Health and others are bluntly warning vaccine seekers, “We will not schedule appointments for doses of vaccine that we do not have.”
All existing Salt Lake County doses are reserved for healthcare workers and first responders, the ministry website explains.

He suggests that county residents return to the site after 8 a.m. on Wednesday to schedule appointments available for Jan. 19-23.

For now, the state’s Utahns should look to the 13 local health districts for access to the doses, Cox told the Salt Lake Tribune editorial board on Monday.

“One of the changes in vaccine delivery that I implemented on day one was to give more authority to our local health services,” said the new governor, who has pledged to speed up the process. vaccine distribution.

Since immunization is one of the traditional tasks of local services, he said, “they have the infrastructure in place, they have the reporting mechanisms in place, that’s what they do. better.

By distributing vaccines based on geography, “we can hold each of them accountable,” Cox said. “… We can dig, find out what’s wrong.” We have now instituted weekly coordination calls, on vaccines, with each vaccine partner, and this will help us to hold them accountable ”.

He added, “If you don’t vaccinate at a high enough rate, we will withdraw your vaccines and give them to those who are vaccinating at a higher rate.”

In a new guideline released Tuesday, the Federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that the 50 states expand access to the COVID-19 vaccine to all people 65 years of age and over. Cox spokeswoman Rossina Lake said Tuesday that no decision has yet been made on whether to follow her. “We just had this morning,” Lake said.

The Salt Lake County Health Department received “several hundred” calls from residents on Monday for information about vaccines, according to a spokesperson. The average wait time for callers was less than five minutes, he said, and the longest wait was 13 minutes.

Here’s a list of Utah health districts and what their websites said Tuesday morning about appointments for Utahns aged 70 and over:

Salt Lake County • Check the ministry’s website after 8 a.m. on Wednesday for appointments available January 19-23.
Utah County • Available appointments are made, but you can sign up for text alerts by texting UCHEALTH at 888777 and you can check the department’s website frequently.
Bear River (Box Elder, Cache, Rich Counties) • A clinic scheduled for Thursday The Cache County Fairgrounds event center is full, but check the department’s webpage often for updates.
Weber-Morgan • Eligible residents can register online to be notified of vaccine availability.
Davis County • Check the ministry’s website on Friday for appointments.

Tooele County • Eligible residents can call the health department at 435-277-2484 to make a vaccination appointment.

Summit County • Eligible residents can register online to receive a vaccine. You will be notified by e-mail when the appointment starts.

Wasatch County • Eligible residents can call 435-657-3276 to make an appointment.

TriCounty (Daggett, Duchesne, Uintah counties) • The health department has no information on how to make appointments for the vaccine on their website. Call the Vernal office at 435-247-1177; call Roosevelt’s office at 435-722-6300.

Central Utah (Juab, Millard, Piute, Sevier, Wayne, Sanpete counties) • Eligible residents can register here.
Southwestern Utah (Garfield, Iron, Kane, Washington, Beaver counties) • Eligible residents can begin registering for appointments online on Mondays.
Southeastern Utah (Carbon, Emery, Grand counties) • Appointments are currently full, but check the department’s website, which also has email alerts.

San Juan County • The county health department’s website is down. Eligible residents can contact the department by dialing 435-359-0038.

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