Utah Administers Over 18K Doses Of COVID-19 Vaccine In One Day

SALT LAKE CITY – The Utah Department of Health reported 778 new cases of COVID-19 on Saturday, following the trend with a decreasing number of new cases in the past two weeks.

Another 18,383 people in Utah have been vaccinated against the disease since Friday, with a total of 598,434 doses of the vaccine given to the Utahns since mid-December.

Of those, 200,651 people in Utah have received two doses of Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna vaccines, which the manufacturers say provide at least 94% immunity to the pandemic disease.

State officials, however, urged everyone, including those fully vaccinated, to continue to wear face masks and maintain social distancing in order to continue to further reduce the spread of the disease in communities.

All of Utah’s counties except Garfield, Piute, Daggett and Rich still experience high rates of disease transmission and have been for some time, according to statistics from the state’s Department of Health.

Reports say the state has tested more than 2.1 million people for COVID-19, including 6,892 people and 19,646 tests since yesterday, with a seven-day moving average percentage of positive tests at 13.52% or 779 positive tests per day.

In all, there have been 366,034 known cases of COVID-19 in Utah, the first of which was reported in March 2020.

Kristin Murphy, Deseret News

There are currently 242 people hospitalized for COVID-19, down from the 255 hospitalizations reported on Friday.

The health department also reported eight new deaths from the virus, including five women and three men. The death toll from COVID-19 for Utah is now 1,842.

Deaths reported on Saturday include:

• Three men from Salt Lake County between 65 and 84 who were hospitalized when they died.
• A Salt Lake County woman over 85 who was not hospitalized.
• A woman from Salt Lake County between the ages of 65 and 84 who was hospitalized.
• A woman from Utah County between 45 and 64 who was hospitalized.
• A Weber County woman over 85 who was hospitalized.
• A Weber County woman aged 65 to 84 who was hospitalized.

The Salt Lake County Department of Health, which uses age-based phases to determine access to the COVID-19 vaccine, has opened appointments for Salt Lake County residents aged 67 and older at 6 p.m. Saturday. Visit SaltLakeHealth.org or call 385-468-7468 to register.

Healthcare workers, staff and residents of long-term care facilities, first responders, educators and staff in K-12 schools, as well as Utahns aged 65 and over are eligible to obtain the vaccine COVID-19 in Utah. Local health departments are leading the distribution efforts, but pharmacies and other partners administer the vaccines, depending on eligibility.

Partner healthcare company Nomi Health pre-registers eligible Utahns for thousands of vaccines through vaccines.nomihealth.com/utah. Nomi Health sites will be open in Lehi, Vineyard, and southern Jordan.

Vaccine eligibility is expected to open to more Utahns, including those with various high-risk medical conditions on March 1.

For more information on vaccine eligibility or Utah’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, visit coronavirus.utah.gov.