SALT LAKE CITY – Utahns between the ages of 65 and 69 are now eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, a few weeks earlier than expected.
All vaccine providers will now accept appointments from those over 65, Utah Governor Spencer Cox announced during an update to the COVID-19 pandemic at a news conference Thursday morning.
Vaccinations are progressing rapidly, especially in the last week, Cox said. About 62 percent of Utahns over the age of 70 have now received the first dose of the vaccine, and some individual counties have vaccinated higher percentages in this age group, the governor added.
This allowed the state to extend eligibility to people aged 65 and over before March 1, which had been the previous date for extension to that age group.
“We’ve made incredible progress in the last month,” Cox said.
People can go to coronavirus.utah.gov to schedule an appointment with the vaccine. Thursday’s extension does not apply to people with comorbidities – those people will still be eligible starting March 1. The list of comorbidities eligible for the vaccine is available at coronavirus.utah.gov/vaccine.
Some counties still have more doses of the vaccine available than others and it will probably take a long time to get an appointment with the vaccine with extended eligibility, Cox added. He urged Utahns to continue to be patient while trying to get vaccinated.
Spencer Cox, the governor of Utah, spoke at a news conference with PBS Utah on Thursday morning. Watch the replay of the event below.
New COVID-19 cases
The number of COVID-19 cases in Utah rose 1,151 on Thursday, with seven more deaths reported, according to the Utah Department of Health.
According to the health department, the average number of positive seven-day positive cases is now 830. The positive daily test rate for that period compared to the ‘people over people’ method is now 13.6%. The positive seven-day average test rate calculated using the ‘test-by-test’ method is now 6.3%.
There are now 258 COVID-19 patients currently hospitalized in Utah, including 105 in intensive care, state data show. About 74 percent of the beds in the Utah intensive care unit have been filled since Thursday, including about 78 percent of the intensive care beds in 16 state reference hospitals. About 54 percent of non-ICU hospital beds are now occupied, according to the health department.
A total of 563,608 vaccines were administered in the state, up from 551,068 on Wednesday. Of these, 179,458 are the second dose of vaccine, state data show.
The new figures indicate a 0.3% increase in positive cases on Wednesday. Of the 2,144,709 people tested for COVID-19 in Utah to date, 17% tested positive for COVID-19. The total number of tests performed increased to 3,652,448 on Thursday – increasing by 21,055 on Wednesday. Of these, 8,121 were tests in individuals who had not been previously tested for COVID-19.
The seven deaths reported on Thursday were:
- A woman from Cache County who was between 65 and 84 years old and a resident of a long-term care institution
- A man from Grand County, who was between 45 and 64 years old and was hospitalized when he died
- Three men from Salt Lake County who were between 65 and 84 years old and were hospitalized when they died
- A man from Utah County who was over 85 years old and was hospitalized when he died
- A woman from Weber County, who was between 65 and 84 years old and was hospitalized when she died
Thursday’s totals give Utah 364,399 confirmed cases in total, with a total of 14,343 hospitalizations and a total of 1,813 deaths from the disease.
Several counties moved the rating on the Utah transmission index this week. The health department assesses the current situation of a COVID-19 county every week on Wednesday and announces any adjustments on Thursday. The counties are now classified as follows:
- High transmission: Beaver, Cache, Davis, Emery, Grand, Iron, Juab, Kane, Salt Lake, Sanpete, Sevier, Summit, Tooele, Utah, Wasatch and Washington counties
- Moderate transmission level: Box Elder, Carbon, Duchesne, Millard, Morgan, San Juan, Uintah and Weber
- Low transmission: Daggett, Garfield, Piute, Rich and Wayne
Vaccinations are on the rise
The number of coronavirus cases in Utah has begun to decline in recent weeks as vaccinations have increased. On Wednesday, the state reported less than 100 patients with COVID-19 in intensive care for the first time since October.
The vaccine allocation in Utah continues to increase each week, and now stands at about 45,000 doses delivered to the state each week, Cox said.
A total of 563,608 doses have now been administered in Utah, according to the governor. It rose from 551,068 on Wednesday to nearly 101,000 in the past week, he added.
The single-day vaccination record in Utah was 24,618 doses administered on February 11th. The state continues to use each dose of vaccine within seven days of delivery to Utah, he said.
About 91 percent of long-term care residents have now been vaccinated, the governor said. Most of the deaths caused by COVID-19 in Utah came from this population, so it is encouraging to see such a large number of vaccinations in this group, he added. Of the 62 percent of Utahns aged 70 and over who had at least one dose of the vaccine, about 15 percent had a second dose, Cox said.
Cox said he still expects every Utah adult who wants a COVID-19 vaccine to get one by April or May.
“We feel very good about it,” he said.
There are about 130,000 people in the 65-69 age group, so at a rate of 45,000 doses per week, vaccination in this group will take several weeks, Cox added. The state will continue to expand vaccine eligibility by age group, so the 60-64 age group will likely be the next eligible population, he said. However, he did not give a timetable for when the eligibility will be extended to the next group.
Although Cox added that the state has no plans to mandate vaccines for Utahns, he urged people to receive them when they are eligible so that the state can continue to see a decrease in COVID-19 cases.
“We all have a duty to protect each other, that’s how it works,” Cox said.
The launch of the vaccine in Salt Lake County is different
Although Cox has announced that all Utahns aged 65 and over are now eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine, the launch of Salt Lake County in that age group will differ slightly.
Salt Lake County residents over the age of 69 will be eligible for the vaccine beginning Thursday at 6 p.m., Salt Lake County Health Department said. Residents of the county aged 68 and over will be eligible to make an appointment starting at 6 pm on Friday.
Eligibility will gradually open for remaining age groups similarly each day until the weekend. Eligibility for those aged 67 and over will start on Saturday at 6 pm, people aged 66 and over will be eligible starting at 6 pm on Sunday, and people aged 65 and over will be eligible starting at 6 pm 18 months.
People need to make appointments with the health department; walk-ins are not currently available. For more information and to schedule an appointment, go to SaltLakeHealth.org and click on “COVID Vaccine Information.”
Methodology:
Test results now include data from PCR tests and antigen tests. Positive COVID-19 test results are reported to the health department immediately after confirmation, but negative test results cannot be reported for 24 to 72 hours.
The total number of cases reported daily by the Utah Department of Health includes all cases of COVID-19 since the onset of the outbreak in Utah, including those who are currently infected, those who have recovered from the disease, and those who have died.
Recovered cases are defined as anyone who was diagnosed with COVID-19 three or more weeks ago and did not die.
The referral hospitals are the 16 hospitals in Utah with the capacity to provide the best COVID-19 healthcare.
State-reported deaths usually occurred two to seven days before they are reported, according to the health department. Some deaths may come from the back, especially if the person is from Utah but died in another state.
The Department of Health reports both confirmed and probable deaths in the COVID-19 case, as defined by the State Council and Territorial Epidemiologists. The number of deaths may change as case investigations are completed.
For deaths that are reported as COVID-19 deaths, the person would not have died if they did not have COVID-19, according to the health department.
The ‘people over people’ method for the seven-day average positive test rate is calculated by dividing the number of people who tested positive for COVID-19 by the total number of people tested. The ‘test over test’ method is calculated by dividing the total number of positive tests by the total number of tests administered.
The data included in this story primarily reflects the state of Utah as a whole. For more localized data, visit the local health district website.
More information on Utah health guidance levels is available at coronavirus.utah.gov/utah-health-guidance-levels.
The information comes from the Utah Department of Health and coronavirus.utah.gov/case-counts. For more information on how the Utah Department of Health compiles and reports COVID-19 data, visit coronavirus.utah.gov/case-counts and scroll down to the “Data Notes” section at the bottom of the page.