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SALT LAKE CITY – As Utah Gov. Spencer Cox announced earlier than expanded vaccine eligibility on Thursday, he remained optimistic about the return to normal this summer.
Pointing to his mask, Cox firmly declared that his days are numbered.
“I’m telling you, I won’t be wearing this (mask) on July 4. I’m going on a parade somewhere,” Cox said at a press conference Thursday morning. “If I’m wrong, I’ll come here and admit I’m wrong, and we’ll do something different.”
Utah Department of Health state epidemiologist Dr. Angela Dunn has been more pragmatic. She said normalcy by the summer is “certainly possible” but it will take an effort from everyone in the state to continue wearing masks, social distancing, limiting gatherings and to practice all the other public health measures that state officials have been preaching for the past year.
At the press conference where Cox, always an enthusiastic optimist, became passionate about the current COVID-19 situation in Utah, the governor announced that residents of the state aged 16 and older who have certain comorbidities are now eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, several days earlier. provided that. This population represents approximately 240,000 Utahn, added the governor.
Previously, the eligibility date for Utahns with co-morbidities was supposed to be March 1, but Cox has said those people are eligible as of now. The full list of comorbidities that make people eligible for the vaccine is available at coronavirus.utah.gov/vaccine-distribution/#eligible.
Although a recent Wall Street Journal analysis ranks Utah last among all U.S. states for the percentage of the population who received at least one dose of the vaccine, Cox attributed the low percentage to the large population of children. of Utah, who are not eligible to receive the vaccine. vaccine again. A series of frigid winter storms in the Midwest and southern United States prevented a large shipment of Moderna vaccines from arriving in Utah, which also set the state back, he said.
Cox said he was focusing on shooting guns as quickly as possible, especially for the most vulnerable populations rather than looking at the population of the state as a whole.
“We are committed to speeding up eligibility where possible,” Cox said.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has only approved the Pfizer vaccine for people aged 16 and 17, Cox said. If people in this age group want to be vaccinated, they should make an appointment at a vaccination center that provides the Pfizer vaccine, the governor added. Not all immunization clinics have the Pfizer vaccine, and a list of clinics that do have it will be provided at coronavirus.utah.gov/vaccine.
Cox also announced Thursday that people who want the vaccine no longer need to wait to make an appointment in their home country. If you can find an appointment available in another region, you can now book an appointment there. However, you must make an appointment for the second dose of the vaccine in the same county where you made an appointment for the first dose, Cox said.
Utah Governor Spencer Cox provided an update on the COVID-19 pandemic at a press conference Thursday. Utah Department of Health state epidemiologist Dr. Angela Dunn also spoke at the press conference. Watch the replay here.
New COVID-19 cases
On Thursday, the number of COVID-19 cases in Utah increased by 832, with 11 additional deaths and 18,563 additional vaccinations reported, according to the Utah Department of Health. There are now approximately 18,561 active COVID-19 cases in Utah.
Four of the deaths occurred last month, but are still under investigation by the state medical examiner’s office, the health department said. The state also reported 18,563 additional vaccinations on Thursday.
The sliding average number of positive cases per day over seven days is now 723, according to the health department. The positive test rate per day for this period of time reported with the “people over people” method is now 12.4%. The seven-day average positive test rate per day calculated with the “test-to-test” method is now 5.7%.
There are 221 COVID-19 patients currently hospitalized in Utah, including 87 in intensive care, state data shows. About 74% of all intensive care unit beds in Utah are occupied Thursday, including about 77% of intensive care beds at the state’s 16 referral hospitals. About 53% of non-ICU hospital beds are occupied in Utah as of Thursday, according to state data.
A total of 660,444 vaccines have been administered in the state, up from 641,881 on Wednesday. Of those, 229,526 are second doses of the vaccine, according to state data.
New figures from Thursday show a 0.2% increase in positive cases since Wednesday. Of the 2,189,176 people tested for COVID-19 in Utah so far, 16.9% have tested positive for COVID-19. The total number of tests performed rose to 3,765,520 on Thursday, up 21,176 from Wednesday. Of those, 8,582 were tests of people who had not previously been tested for COVID-19.
The 11 deaths reported Thursday were:
- Davis County woman aged 65 to 84 hospitalized after death
- Davis County woman over 85 living in long-term care facility
- Salt Lake County man who was between 65 and 84 and was hospitalized when he died
- Salt Lake County man aged 25 to 44 who was not hospitalized when he died
- A woman from Tooele County who was between 45 and 64 and who was not hospitalized when she died
- Woman from Tooele County who was over 85 and was hospitalized after her death
- A Utah County over 85 years old living in a long-term care facility
- Utah County Woman 65-84 Long-Term Care Resident
- Utah County man over 85 living in long-term care facility
- Weber County woman aged 65 to 84 admitted to hospital after death
- Weber County man aged 45 to 64 who was not hospitalized when he died
Thursday’s totals give Utah 369,433 total confirmed cases, with 14,597 total hospitalizations and 1,890 total deaths from the disease. It is now estimated that a total of 348,982 cases of COVID-19 in Utah have been recovered.
This story will be updated.
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