SALT LAKE CITY – More than 20,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccine had been administered in Utah by health officials on Tuesday, they said – only 20% of the amount of vaccine that had been shipped to the state.
“There are a lot of things that need to be done to get a vaccine,” said Jenny Johnson, a spokeswoman for the Utah Department of Health. “It’s not surprising to us that people see a number that was shipped to Utah, and I think that means we should have 100,000 people vaccinated as soon as we get the vaccine. And that’s not how it works. “
Numbers released Tuesday showed that Pfizer and Moderna had delivered 102,025 combined doses of the vaccine to Utah since the launch, and 20,417 of those doses were given to health care workers and others included in Phase 1 of the state’s distribution plan.
“People just need to know that there is a time lag from the time of delivery to the time they enter someone’s arm,” Johnson said. “But we give vaccines to people.”
Johnson said that when the state reports the number of “shipped” doses, it does not necessarily mean that they are still in the state. The gap between the doses shipped to the doses administered is up to seven days, she said. There is also a 24-hour window for reporting the vaccine that has been given, which adds to the delay in the number reported.
People just need to know that there is a time lag from the time of delivery to the time they enter someone’s arm.
– Jenny Johnson, Utah Department of Health
Hospitals are instructed not to administer the vaccine to all staff at once, “because if they have some side effects that make them want to be home and rest, you don’t have staff who can’t work.” Johnson also stressed that the vaccine is not the only thing hospitals need to deal with.
These are the same places that have had to deal with this attack of COVID-19 patients, she said. – And they’re tired.
However, 20% of the vaccine is low compared to other states in a recent New York Times article. He said neighboring Colorado had already given more than 75 percent of the vaccine, and Wyoming had given nearly 50 percent.
“I can’t talk about why some states have given more vaccine than Utah,” Johnson said.
But Utah is doing better than the national average. On Tuesday, the CDC reported that 2.1 million doses out of 11.4 million were distributed nationwide. That reaches about 18%.
Johnson said the recent COVID-19 aid bill signed by the president this week will help distribute the vaccine.
“We need funding from the Cares Act to continue our response efforts,” she said.
Local health departments in the state have also stocked up on some vaccines to prepare for clinics that Johnson said will begin this week. Johnson expects these clinics, combined with ongoing distribution to long-term care facilities, to help bridge the gap between vaccines shipped and administered.