Utah to receive 5,500 additional doses of COVID-19 vaccine next week

SALT LAKE CITY – Officials from the Utah Department of Health have said they will receive thousands of additional doses of the COVID-19 vaccine from the federal government next week.

Overall, that’s a 30% jump from previous weeks, or about 5,500 additional doses – a big increase given that Utah receives about 33,000 doses per week.

“We were a little surprised to see this,” said Rich Lakin, director of immunization for the Utah Department of Health. “If they can send us more vaccines, that’s great.”

Right now, tens of thousands of Utahns aged 70 and over are trying to get vaccinated – so much so that the websites of the state’s health departments have collapsed.

Lakin said they were not sure why they were receiving the extra doses or if it would continue in the future.

“Unfortunately, we only know from week to week what the federal government is going to send us. So it is really hard to plan for the future when you don’t know how many doses you are going to receive,” said Lakin. “I really hesitate that we have a 30% jump from now on.”

Lakin said they will decide how to distribute the extra doses and who they will travel to on Thursday. He does not know if they will be distributed among the health services, and they will perhaps go to others on the waiting list.

“There are a lot of 70+ to be vaccinated who cannot make it to local health services, and if we can reach these populations at the same time, it also reduces the burden and mortality from COVID-19,” he said. Lakin said.

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