SALT LAKE CITY (AP) – Less than a quarter of the 127,375 doses of COVID-19 vaccines reported in Utah were used to vaccinate health care providers and residents and long-term care facility staff at end of the year, Deseret News reported.
“The rollout of the vaccine has been slow, slower than expected, slower than we would have liked,” said Rich Lakin, director of vaccine program with the Utah Department of Health. “We hope to be at a much faster pace in the next 15 days.”
Utah is already beginning to accelerate the process, health department spokesman Tom Hudachko said Thursday.
More than 6,000 doses were reported to have been administered in Utah on Thursday, double the daily increases earlier in the week. What makes the difference, Hudachko said, is that local health departments, including tribal clinics, and long-term care facilities are able to deliver doses much faster than hospitals.
In Davis County, a massive drive-thru clinic at the Legacy Events Center is able to vaccinate 28 health care workers in time for meetings, he said. At long-term care facilities, CVS and Walgreens and other contractors are quickly recruiting both residents and employees.
At the state’s largest medical provider, Intermountain Healthcare, 20,000 of 38,000 carers were expected to receive the vaccine by the end of the week, a Glen Beeby spokesman said. He said vaccinations, which started with intensive care unit and emergency room staff, are now open to all staff.
The University of Utah has vaccinated about 8,300 of its approximately 17,000 employees, giving priority to frontline health care teams, public relations director Kathy Wilets said.
A total of 30,200 vaccines were reported in Utah on Thursday. The health department said the number of people who received the vaccine seven days or more is likely to be behind the number of vaccines sent to the state.
Utah’s allocation for vaccines next week is 33,575 doses, Hudachko said.
Teachers and school staff are expected to start receiving vaccines 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, possibly in mid-February.
State health officials have said it could be July before vaccines become available to all Utah residents.