SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - Less than a quarter of the 127,375 doses of the COVID-19 vaccines reportedly received in Utah have been used to vaccinate health care providers and long-term care facility residents and staff as of the end of the year, Deseret News reported.
“The initial rollout of the vaccine has been slow, slower than anticipated, slower than we wanted,” said Rich Lakin, immunization program director with the Utah Department of Health. “We hope to be at a much faster pace in the next 15 days.”
Utah is already starting to speed up the process, health department spokesperson Tom Hudachko said Thursday.
More than 6,000 doses were reportedly administered in Utah on Thursday, double the daily increases earlier in the week. What’s making the difference, Hudachko said, is that local health departments, including tribal clinics, and long-term care facilities are able to give doses much faster than hospitals.
In Davis County, a mass drive-thru clinic at the Legacy Events Center is able to vaccinate 28 health care workers at a time with appointments, he said. At long-term care facilities, CVS and Walgreens and other contractors are quickly inoculating both residents and staff.
At the state’s largest medical provider, Intermountain Healthcare, 20,000 of 38,000 caregivers were expected to be vaccinated by the end of the week, spokesman Glen Beeby said. He said vaccinations, which started with intensive care unit and emergency room workers, are now open to all employees.
University of Utah Health has vaccinated about 8,300 of its approximately 17,000 employees, prioritizing front-line health care teams, public relations director Kathy Wilets said.
A total of 30,200 vaccinations were reported in Utah as of Thursday. The health department said the number of people who’ve been vaccinated will likely lag seven days or more behind the number of vaccines that have been shipped to the state.
Utah’s allocation for vaccines next week is 33,575 doses, Hudachko said.
Teachers and school staff are scheduled to begin receiving vaccinations the week of Jan. 25, after police officers, prison guards and others in protective services, Hudachko said.
Utah residents 75 and older will be at the top of the list when the second phase of vaccinations begins, likely in mid-February.
State health officials have said it could be July before vaccines are available to all Utah residents.
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