Utah governor apologizes for vaccine data error



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Utah Governor Spencer Cox (right) apologized on Monday after his administration discovered that a state agency inadvertently misreported the number of residents who had received a coronavirus vaccine.

In a letter to his constituents, Cox said some federal doses had been double counted. The new tally means just over 67% of adults in Utah have received at least one dose of the vaccine, not the 70% reported last week.

“We screwed up. And I sincerely apologize, ”Cox wrote. “When I became governor, I promised that I would hold myself and other members of the state government accountable, and that I would admit our mistakes.”

“While sharing federal data has been extremely difficult, it is up to us. Our data team is devastated and embarrassed. And me too, ”Cox wrote. “Our data team at the Department of Health has been amazing throughout this pandemic. Sometimes working around the clock, these officials have been recognized as one of the most comprehensive and transparent data teams in the country. While this miscalculation is inexcusable, they re-examined the processes to prevent this type of error from happening again. ”

The error means Utah has yet to reach the 70% threshold that most health experts expect herd immunity to trigger. But the state still ranks among the fastest to vaccinate such a large part of its population, especially as reluctance to vaccinate increases among conservative populations. .

Only two other states that voted for the former President TrumpDonald TrumpYoungkin is releasing a new ad seeking to tie McAuliffe to Trump in the race for governors of Virginia. in the 2020 election – Nebraska and Florida – vaccinated a higher share of their populations, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Cox, 46, is just months away from his first governorship. He won the election with 63% of the vote after running an ad alongside his Democratic rival calling for a more civil discourse in politics.



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