SALT LAKE CITY — As Utah Gov. Spencer Cox announced more earlier-than-expected vaccine eligibility Thursday, he remained confidently optimistic that a return to normalcy is coming in the summer.
Gesturing to his mask, Cox strongly declared that its days are numbered.
“I’m telling you, I’m not going to be wearing this (mask) on the Fourth of July. I’m going to be in a parade somewhere,” Cox said at a news conference Thursday morning. “If I’m wrong, I’ll come here and admit that I’m wrong, and we’re going to do something different.”
Utah Department of Health state epidemiologist Dr. Angela Dunn remained more pragmatic. She said normalcy by the summer is “certainly possible” but will take an effort from everyone in the state to continue wearing masks, socially distancing, limiting gatherings, and practicing all the other public health measures that state officials have been preaching for the last year.
In the news conference where Cox, always an enthusiastic optimist, got passionate about Utah’s current COVID-19 situation, the governor announced that state residents age 16 and older who have certain comorbidities are now eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, several days earlier than expected. That population accounts for about 240,000 Utahns, the governor said.
Previously, the eligibility date for Utahns with comorbidities was March 1, but Cox said these people are eligible effective immediately. The full list of comorbidities that make a person eligible for the vaccine is available at coronavirus.utah.gov/vaccine-distribution/#eligibility.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has only approved the Pfizer vaccine for people ages 16 and 17, Cox said. If people in that age group would like to get the vaccine, they need to schedule an appointment at a vaccination center that provides the Pfizer vaccine, the governor added. Not all vaccine clinics have the Pfizer vaccine, and a list of clinics that have it will be provided at coronavirus.utah.gov/vaccine.
Though a recent Wall Street Journal analysis puts Utah dead last out of all U.S. states for percentage of the population that has had at least one vaccine dose, Cox attributed that low percentage to Utah’s large population of kids, who aren’t eligible to receive the vaccine yet. A series of frigid winter storms in the midwestern and southern U.S. prevented a large shipment of Moderna vaccines from arriving in Utah, which also set the state back, he said.
Cox said he’s focused on getting shots into arms as quickly as possible, especially for those more vulnerable populations rather than looking at the population of the state as a whole.
“We have committed to speeding up eligibility when possible,” Cox said.
The governor also announced Thursday that people who want the vaccine no longer need to wait to make an appointment in their home county. If you can find an appointment available in another county, you are now able to make an appointment there. However, you must make your appointment for the second vaccine dose in the same county where you made your appointment for the first dose, Cox said.
Utah Gov. Spencer Cox provided a COVID-19 pandemic update at a news conference on Thursday. Utah Department of Health state epidemiologist Dr. Angela Dunn is also spoke at the news conference. Watch the replay here.
New COVID-19 cases
Thursday, Utah’s number of COVID-19 cases increased by 832, with 11 more deaths and 18,563 more vaccinations reported, according to the Utah Department of Health. There are an estimated 18,561 active COVID-19 cases in Utah.
Four of the deaths occurred last month but were still being investigated by the state medical examiner’s office, the health department said. The state also reported 18,563 more vaccinations as of Thursday.
The rolling seven-day average number of positive cases per day is now at 723, according to the health department. The positive test rate per day for that time period reported with the “people over people” method is now 12.4%. The positive test rate per day seven-day average calculated with the “test over 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 ICU beds in the state’s 16 referral hospitals. About 53% of non-ICU hospital beds are occupied in Utah, state data shows.
A total of 660,444 vaccines have been administered in the state, up from 641,881 Wednesday. Of those, 229,526 are second doses of the vaccine, state data shows.
Thursday’s new numbers indicate 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 the disease. The number of total tests conducted increased to 3,765,520 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:
- A Davis County woman who was between the ages of 65 and 84 and was hospitalized when she died
- A Davis County woman who was over the age of 85 and was a resident of a long-term care facility
- A Salt Lake County man who was between the ages of 65 and 84 and was hospitalized when he died
- A Salt Lake County man who was between the ages of 25 and 44 and was not hospitalized when he died
- A Tooele County woman who was between the ages of 45 and 64 and was not hospitalized when she died
- A Tooele County woman who was over the age of 85 and was hospitalized when she died
- A Utah County woman who was over the age of 85 and was a resident of a long-term care facility
- A Utah County woman who was between the ages of 65 and 84 and was a resident of a long-term care facility
- A Utah County man who was over the age of 85 and was a resident of a long-term care facility
- A Weber County woman who was between the ages of 65 and 84 and was hospitalized when she died
- A Weber County man who was between the ages of 45 and 64 and 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. A total of 348,982 Utah COVID-19 cases are now estimated to be recovered.
This story will be updated.
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