SALT LAKE CITY — Utah’s number of COVID-19 cases has increased by 1,761 on Thursday, with no more deaths reported, according to the Utah Department of Health.
The rolling seven-day average number of positive cases per day is now at 1,710, according to the health department. The positive test rate per day for that time period is now 18.3%.
Also Thursday, Utah Gov. Spencer Cox and other state leaders are providing a COVID-19 pandemic update at a news conference. Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson and Utah Department of Health state epidemiologist Dr. Angela Dunn also spoke at the event.
The event started at 11 a.m. Watch the replay of the news conference below.
New COVID-19 cases
The health department now estimates there are now 43,187 active COVID-19 cases in Utah.
Aside from several holidays where the state health department did not provide a COVID-19 statistics report, Thursday is the first day Utah has reported zero new COVID-19 deaths since September.
The new numbers indicate a 0.5% increase in positive cases since Wednesday. Of the 2,000,023 people tested for COVID-19 in Utah so far, 17.1% have tested positive for COVID-19. The number of total tests conducted increased by 18,134 as of Thursday, and 10,917 of those were tests of people who had not previously been tested for COVID-19, according to state data.
There are now 444 COVID-19 patients currently hospitalized in Utah, including 157 in intensive care, state data shows. About 84% of Utah’s ICU beds are occupied Thursday, including about 89% of ICU beds in the state’s 16 referral hospitals. About 56% of Utah’s non-ICU hospital beds are occupied, according to the health department.
A total of 267,027 vaccines have been administered in the state, up from 250,448 Wednesday. Of those, 43,089 are second vaccine doses, state data shows.
Thursday’s totals give Utah 342,445 total confirmed cases, with 13,279 total hospitalizations and 1,620 total deaths from the disease. A total of 297,638 Utah COVID-19 cases are now considered recovered, according to the health department.
This story will be updated.
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 they are confirmed, but negative test results may not be reported for 24 to 72 hours.
The total number of cases reported by the Utah Department of Health each day includes all cases of COVID-19 since Utah’s outbreak began, 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 has not died.
Referral hospitals are the 16 Utah hospitals with the capability to provide the best COVID-19 health care.
Deaths reported by the state typically occurred two to seven days prior to when they are reported, according to the health department. Some deaths may be from even further back, especially if the person is from Utah but has died in another state.
The health department reports both confirmed and probable COVID-19 case deaths per the case definition outlined by the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists. The death counts are subject to 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.
Data included in this story primarily reflects the state of Utah as a whole. For more localized data, visit your local health district’s website.
More information about Utah’s health guidance levels is available at coronavirus.utah.gov/utah-health-guidance-levels.
Information is 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.
HOUSTON – Galveston County and local health partners announced Wednesday a new online waitlist application for those seeking to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.
Appointments are currently available for high-risk individuals who meet the criteria in Phase 1A and 1B. You do not have to be a resident of Galveston County or a UTMB patient to sign up for the waitlist, officials said.
The waitlist will begin accepting applicants on Wednesday at 4 p.m.
Go to utmbhealth.com/vaccine to register for the waitlist.
“This will be the single portal for people to come on and get in line to get their vaccine.” Dr. Philip Keiser, the Galveston County Local Health Authority said. “There’s a very big need to do this because as you can see, not just for us, but all across the whole region as soon as any appointments open up they go away really quickly.”
Officials said applicants will be asked to create an account and answer a few health questions, which will be used by medical professionals to make sure those most at risk of being hospitalized from COVID-19 will get an opportunity to schedule an appointment as vaccine supplies become available.
The waitlist will be based on the level of risk and people will be able to register for the waitlist on an ongoing basis, officials said.
Once a person is eligible to receive the vaccine based on his or her level of risk, they will receive an email alerting them to schedule an appointment. Within the notification, there will be a link to the website where they can schedule an appointment. The scheduling link will only be valid for 24 hours, officials said.
A separate email address is needed for each person interested in joining the waitlist.
For those who may not have internet access or a working email address, a phone bank can assist them with the waitlist registration process. They will be asked to provide an email and cell phone number for a relative or close friend to ensure they receive scheduling notifications.
The phone bank can be reached at 877-389-2318.
Health officials said the process will help them to prioritize those at higher risk.
”If you sign up, that doesn’t mean that you’re going to get vaccinated next week. What it means is that we know who you are and we’re going to get to you as soon as we can,” said Keiser.
Galveston County, UTMB Health and the Galveston County Health District continue to follow Texas Department of State Health Services eligibility requirements and are only vaccinating those that fall under Phase 1A, health care workers, and Phase 1B, those 65 and older or 16 and older with certain medical conditions.
County leaders believe the on-line vaccine waitlist will help simplify the process to get people vaccinated.
”Once we get people on this list we’ll know what the demand is and we’ll know who those people are so that we can better plan as we get more doses of the vaccine,” said Keiser.
Copyright 2021 by KPRC Click2Houston – All rights reserved.
SALT LAKE CITY — Donovan Mitchell didn’t really know what to think when he heard the news. The Utah House of Representatives had passed a resolution in honor of him? Why? And what exactly did that mean?
When House Resolution 3 was introduced by Rep. Kera Birkeland, R-Morgan on Tuesday to recognize “the exemplary service of Donovan Mitchell to the Utah Jazz and the Utah community; and suggests consideration of making the ‘Spida’ (Mitchell’s nickname) the official state arachnid” it caused some people to raise their eyebrows.
The resolution was drafted after Mitchell’s now infamous postgame exchange with Shaquille O’Neal last week. It was a way of backing up the Jazz star.
“In Utah, we support our players when they face awkward abuse during postgame interviews disguised as pep talks,” the resolution states while also getting in some jabs at O’Neal’s free throw percentage and off the court ventures like movie “Kazaam” and the video game “Shaq Fu.”
“I think it is appropriate for the great state of Utah to award Shaquille O’Neal with a technical foul,” said Birkeland, sporting a ref jersey.
That little bit of detail was something Mitchell appreciated.
“That was pretty fun,” Mitchell said.
Birkeland and her fellow representatives passed the resolution in a landslide 67-5 vote. No surprise that Utahns support one of their biggest stars.
The resolution, though, did face some opposition.
“Not only has he gotten into the head of Donovan Mitchell, but I’m sure everyone who votes yes on this, he would rent some space in your head, as well,” House Majority Leader Francis Gibson, R-Mapleton, said about O’Neale. “But I do support our Jazz. I do support Donovan Mitchell.”
Now, whether or not such a matter should have been brought to the house floor — House Speaker Brad Wilson even sported a Mitchell jersey for the discussion — is a whole other matter. But Birkeland and the other representatives voting yes, simply wanted to cast an official show of support for the All-Star.
And as Mitchell sat in his car reading about it and pondering about the unique show of support, he couldn’t help but smile. Sure it was easy to laugh at, but it also was pretty moving.
“I looked at it in a different light,” Mitchell said. “Growing up being a kid you always want to be that guy that’s beloved and I really appreciate the support. I think it’s special and it’s an honor. It’s kind of funny.”
But he did have a question: “Is it like the state spider?” Mitchell asked. “I don’t know how that works, to be honest with you. I was asking around, we don’t really know.”
It doesn’t appear to be. The Utah State Legislature website states that resolutions “are considered an expression of the Legislature and are printed in the annual session laws (Laws of Utah) but are not codified.”
So for now, it’s just a way for the house to have expressed an opinion. The opinion that Mitchell is the best player — and spider — around.
“I’m just blessed that people think of me that way,” Mitchell said. “I’m just honored.”
WASHINGTON (Reuters) — Coronavirus deaths and cases per day in the U.S. dropped markedly over the past couple of weeks but are still running at alarmingly high levels, and the effort to snuff out COVID-19 is becoming an ever more urgent race between the vaccine and the mutating virus.
The government’s top infectious-disease expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci, said the improvement in numbers around the country appears to reflect a “natural peaking and then plateauing” after a holiday surge, rather than the arrival of the vaccine in mid-December.
The U.S. is recording just under 3,100 deaths a day on average, down from more than 3,350 less than two weeks ago. New cases are averaging about 170,000 a day after peaking at almost 250,000 on Jan. 11. The number of hospitalized COVID-19 patients has fallen to about 110,000 from a high of 132,000 on Jan. 7.
States that have been hot spots in recent weeks such as California and Arizona have shown similar improvements during the same period.
On Monday, California lifted regional stay-at-home orders in favor of county-by-county restrictions and ended a 10 p.m. curfew. The shift will allow restaurants and churches to resume outdoor operations and hair and nail salons to reopen in many places, though local officials could maintain stricter rules.
Elsewhere, Minnesota school districts have begun bringing elementary students back for in-person learning. Chicago’s school system, the nation’s third-largest district, had hoped to bring teachers back Monday to prepare for students to return next month, but the teachers union has refused. Illinois announced that that more counties will be able to offer limited indoor dining.
“I don’t think the dynamics of what we’re seeing now with the plateauing is significantly influenced yet — it will be soon — but yet by the vaccine. I just think it’s the natural course of plateauing,” Fauci told NBC’s “Today.”
Ali Mokdad, a professor of health metrics sciences at the University of Washington, said that a predicted holiday surge was reduced by people traveling less than expected, and an increase in mask wearing in response to spikes in infections has since helped bring the numbers down.
Caitlin Rivers, an epidemiologist at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, said too few people have been vaccinated so far for that to have had a significant impact on virus trends. She said she can’t predict how long it will take for the vaccines’ effects to be reflected in the numbers.
Rivers said she is concerned that the more contagious variants of the virus could lead to a deadly resurgence later this year.
“I think we were on track to have a good — or a better, at least — spring and summer, and I’m worried that the variants might be throwing us a curveball,” she said.
Nationwide, about 18 million people, or less than 6% of the U.S. population, have received at least one dose of vaccine, including about 3 million who have gotten the second shot, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Only slightly more than half of the 41 million doses distributed to the states by the federal government have been injected into arms, by the CDC’s count.
The virus has killed over 419,000 Americans and infected more than 25 million, with a widely cited University of Washington model projecting the death toll will reach about 569,000 by May 1.
And health experts have warned that the more contagious and possibly more deadly variant sweeping through Britain will probably become the dominant source of infection in the U.S. by March. It has been reported in over 20 states so far. Another mutant version is circulating in South Africa.
The more the virus spreads, the more opportunities it has to mutate. The fear is that it will ultimately render the vaccines ineffective.
To guard against the new variants, President Joe Biden on Monday added South Africa to the list of more than two dozen countries whose residents are subject to coronavirus-related limits on entering the U.S.
Most non-U.S. citizens who have been to Brazil, Ireland, Britain and other European nations will be barred from entering the U.S. under the rules re-imposed by Biden after President Donald Trump had moved to relax them.
Fauci said scientists are already preparing to adjust COVID-19 vaccines to fight the mutated versions.
He said there is “a very slight, modest diminution” of the effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines against those variants, but “there’s enough cushion with the vaccines that we have that we still consider them to be effective” against both.
Moderna, the maker of one of the two vaccines being used in the U.S., announced on Monday that it is beginning to test a possible booster dose against the South African variant. Moderna CEO Stephane Bancel said the move was out of “an abundance of caution” after preliminary lab tests suggested its shot produced a weaker immune response to that variant.
The vaccine rollout in the U.S. has been marked by disarray and confusion, with states complaining in recent days about shortages and inadequate deliveries that have forced them to cancel mass vaccination events and tens of thousands of appointments.
New York Mayor Bill de Blasio said shortages are preventing the city from opening more large-scale vaccination sites.
“Here you have New York City ready to vaccinate at the rate of a half-million New Yorkers a week, but we don’t have the vaccine to go with it,” de Blasio said. “A lot of other places in the country are ready to do so much more.”
Associated Press writers around the U.S. contributed to this report.
Find AP’s full coverage of the coronavirus pandemic at https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic
HOUSTON – Harris County will launch a waitlist Tuesday for people who want to get the coronavirus vaccine.
Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo said the list is aimed at creating an equitable way to distribute and administer the vaccine.
“Getting a COVID-19 vaccine shouldn’t be like ‘The Hunger Games,’” Hidalgo said. “It shouldn’t be about who can hit refresh on a browser the fastest.”
Hidalgo said the waitlist will be made available at ReadyHarris.org or by calling 832-927-8787. The phone line will be open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday to Saturday and is available in English, Spanish and Vietnamese.
While anyone can signup for the waitlist, only people who are eligible to receive the vaccine in phases 1A and 1B will be able to get the shot at this time, Hidalgo said. She said the system will not be a first-come-first-served system. She said eligible people will be subject to a randomization system to ensure that the administration process is fair. She said that people who are currently ineligible will be contacted once they are eligible.
Hidalgo said Harris County Public Health has administered 27,426 vaccines to date and the county is receiving about 9,000 doses per week. She said that while county leaders are advocating for receiving more doses, the waitlist does not mean that the county has a huge stockpile of the vaccine.
“Supply continues to be extremely limited,” Hidalgo said.
This story will be updated.
Copyright 2021 by KPRC Click2Houston – All rights reserved.
SALT LAKE CITY — In its daily update of COVID-19 statistics in Utah, the state health department reported 1,516 new positive tests and another 13 deaths from the disease Sunday.
Four of those deaths happened before the new year, officials said, but were still under investigation. Overall, that brings the state to 336,405 total confirmed cases and 1,595 deaths since the pandemic began.
Currently, 461 Utahns are reported hospitalized due to COVID-19, including 182 in intensive care. Sunday’s numbers came as 14,575 more test results were reported and 7,331 Utahns were tested for the virus for the first time.
Over the past week, the state is averaging 1,794 new reported cases per day and a positive test rate of 19.4%.
The health department says 6,073 more vaccines were administered since yesterday’s report, for a total of 228,348 so far. More than 28,000 Utahns have received a second dose of the vaccine.
The deaths reported Sunday include:
A Salt Lake County man between ages 65 and 84 who was hospitalized when he died
A Salt Lake County woman between ages 65 and 84 who was the resident of a long-term care facility
A Salt Lake County man over age 85 who was the resident of a long-term care facility
A Salt Lake County man between ages 45 and 64 who was not hospitalized when he died
A Uintah County man between ages 65 and 84 who was not hospitalized
A Utah County man between ages 25 and 44 who was the resident of a long-term care facility
Three Utah County men between ages 65 and 84 who were hospitalized
A Utah County woman over age 85 who was the resident of a long-term care facility
A Washington County woman between ages 65 and 84 who was the resident of a long-term care facility
A Washington County woman over age 85 who was not hospitalized
A Weber County woman between ages 65 and 84 who was not hospitalized
Together, Salt Lake and Utah counties now account for 62% of the state’s reported cases and 58% of its deaths.
There is no coronavirus news conference from state leaders scheduled for Sunday. Gov. Spencer Cox and health officials will update the public in a conference later this week; it usually occurs on Thursdays.
Last week
Saturday: Gov. Cox says getting more vaccines shouldn’t be like ‘Hunger Games’; 1,771 more COVID cases reported Saturday
Friday: 2,649 more COVID-19 cases, 24 deaths reported Friday in Utah
Thursday: Utah using nearly all COVID-19 vaccine doses as state sees 2,089 new cases, 30 deaths
Wednesday: 2,159 more COVID-19 cases, 10 deaths reported Wednesday in Utah
Tuesday: 1,302 more COVID-19 cases, 7 deaths reported Tuesday in Utah
Monday: 1,082 new COVID cases reported Monday as Utah marks 1,500 deaths during pandemic
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 they are confirmed, but negative test results may not be reported for 24 to 72 hours.
The total number of cases reported by the Utah Department of Health each day includes all cases of COVID-19 since Utah’s outbreak began, 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 has not died.
Referral hospitals are the 16 Utah hospitals with the capability to provide the best COVID-19 health care.
Deaths reported by the state typically occurred two to seven days prior to when they are reported, according to the health department. Some deaths may be from even further back, especially if the person is from Utah but has died in another state.
The health department reports both confirmed and probable COVID-19 case deaths per the case definition outlined by the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists. The death counts are subject to 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.
Data included in this story primarily reflects the state of Utah as a whole. For more localized data, visit your local health district’s website.
More information about Utah’s health guidance levels is available at coronavirus.utah.gov/utah-health-guidance-levels.
Information is 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.
NEW YORK (CNN) — Most people who buy things online just have to worry about their deliveries being delayed or never arriving. But some people are dealing with a different problem altogether: getting weird stuff like hair clippers, face creams and sunglasses they never even ordered at all.
The Federal Trade Commission and cyber experts have been warning consumers about these deliveries, which can be part of something known as “brushing” scams.
Here’s how these scams work: Third-party sellers on Amazon, eBay and other online marketplaces pay people to write fake, positive reviews about their products, or do it themselves. To be able to post the reviews, these so-called “brushers” need to trick the site into making it appear that a legitimate transaction took place. So they’ll use a fake account to place gift orders and address them to a random person whose name and address they find online. Then, instead of actually mailing the item for which they want to post a review, the brushers will send a cheap, often lightweight item that costs less to ship.
Sending an item (even the wrong one) creates a tracking number, and when the package is delivered, it enables brushers to write a verified review. If you’re on the receiving end, you usually aren’t charged for the purchase and your real account isn’t hacked — but you are left in the dark as to who is repeatedly sending the mystery packages. In many cases, there’s no return address. You don’t need to worry that anything bad has happened to you or will happen to you if you get a package that might be part of a brushing scam, experts say. But we all need to be concerned about the scams affecting reviews we rely on when buying products.
Brushing scams reportedly took off on e-commerce sites in China around five years ago. They resurfaced in headlines last summer, when all 50 states issued warnings about mysterious, unsolicited packages of seeds that people across the nation received in the mail.
But it’s not just seeds. Unsuspecting recipients have also found boxes with goods ranging from dog pooper-scoopers to power cords to soap dispensers on their doorsteps.
Jen Blinn of Thousand Oaks, California, told CNN Business she has been receiving random packages since June, including most recently a briefcase, a backpack, a hair straightener and a coffee-cup warmer.
“Every two weeks … I get another package in the mail of just random stuff I never ordered,” she said. Blinn notified Amazon of the issue, but a customer service agent “didn’t really understand what I was saying. She obviously didn’t know about it,” she said. The agent looked at Blinn’s account and found nothing wrong with it.
It’s not illegal to send customers unordered merchandise. But “the [Federal Trade Commission] has long gone after marketers that use fake reviews,” said David Vladeck, a former director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection and a law professor at Georgetown University.
Amazon says its policy prohibits sellers sending unsolicited merchandise to customers, and that sellers can be removed from the site for doing so.
“Third-party sellers are prohibited from sending unsolicited packages to customers and we take action on those who violate our policies, including withholding payments, suspending or removing selling privileges, or working with law enforcement,” an Amazon spokesperson said in an email. Amazon would not say how how many brushing scams have been found on the site or how many sellers have been removed due to these scams.
An eBay spokesperson said in an email that brushing schemes “do not appear to be highly prevalent” on the site. It violates eBay policy to send unsolicited merchandise to customers or falsify reviews and can result in eBay restricting sellers’ accounts or suspending them from the site.
Experts also say it’s difficult to quantify the frequency of such scams because it can be hard for companies to know whether reviews are fake, and scams often go unreported by consumers.
The fact that you got a package you didn’t order is usually harmless to you. The harm is to people who rely on reviews when deciding on a purchase, said Chris McCabe, a former policy enforcement investigator at Amazon tasked with stopping scams and fraud. He is now a consultant to sellers on the site.
The real losers here are the consumers who are possibly believing many of these fake positive reviews, or this artificial padding of reviews, because they might see 100 positive reviews, and then there may only be 60 or 70 of them that are legitimate.
–Chris McCabe
“The real losers here are the consumers who are possibly believing many of these fake positive reviews, or this artificial padding of reviews, because they might see 100 positive reviews, and then there may only be 60 or 70 of them that are legitimate,” he said.
The likelihood that a consumer will buy a product that has five reviews is 270% higher than the likelihood they will buy a product with zero reviews, according to a 2017 report by Northwestern University’s Spiegel Research Center.
Some fake reviews are also being driven by Facebook groups where sellers offer buyers money if they write positive product reviews, said McCabe. Amazon and Facebook should work together to crack down on these groups, he said.
An Amazon spokesperson said that the company analyzes more than 10 million reviews every week to try to keep fake ones from being published and that it provides details of its investigations to social media companies “so they can stop these bad actors from abusing their platforms.”
A Facebook spokesperson said in an email that when the company is told of groups that may encourage fake reviews, it reviews them and removes them if they violate its policies.
Unwanted sheets and Shiatsu massagers
For consumers, the unexpected deliveries can be jarring. The packages Ashanté Nicole never ordered started arriving at her home in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, in 2019.
iPhone and portable car chargers. An iPad case. A heated shiatsu massage. A nail cleaning brush and a blow dryer. Sheets. A mattress cover. A floppy fish toy.
They didn’t have return addresses, so Nicole wasn’t sure who was sending the packages. She reached out to Amazon to try to stop them from coming, but they still keep arriving at her doorstep.
“It was just kind of a little bit concerning because I don’t know who has my information,” she said. “I don’t know what they’re going to send me. Like they could send something illegal and then I’m in trouble because I didn’t know whoever that person was or what they were sending me.”
If you get merchandise you didn’t order, it could mean that scammers have created an account in your name or taken over your account, an FTC spokesperson said in an email. Scammers may have even created new accounts in other names tied to your address, allowing them to post lots of seemingly-real reviews.
“We recommend keeping an eye on your online shopping accounts. If you spot activity that isn’t yours, report it to the site right away, and think about changing your password for that site,” the spokesperson said.
Nicole feels she has done all she can by alerting Amazon each time unsolicited packages from the retailer arrive at her doorstep.
“There’s literally nothing I can do besides tell Amazon every time it happens. And that hasn’t really done much,” she said.
Amazon declined to comment directly on Nicole and Blinn’s accounts, but said if a customer receives a package that was unsolicited, they should contact Amazon’s customer service team.
Nicole said she hopes Amazon will do more to stop brushing and ban sellers who participate in the scams.
“I just think they need to be a little bit more concerned with shutting those stores down and making sure those sellers can’t use the platform.”
Stock image. | Photo by Nature/iStock/Getty Images Plus, St. George News
ST. GEORGE — The first weekend of COVID-19 vaccination appointments being opened up for local residents ages 70 and oldersaw all reservation slots for the rest of the month fill quickly. Due to technical glitches, some residents expressed frustration with trying to get inoculated against the virus that has infected 23,300 and killed 191 people locally since March, including a record-high five people announced Thursday.
Stock photo. | Photo by Arindam Ghosh/iStock/Getty Images Plus, St. George News
The spokesman for the local health department said the problem has not been a lack of manpower or a lack of capabilities – it has been a lack of supply.
Spokesperson David Heaton said the Southwest Utah Public Health Department has been receiving 2,000 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine. That supply is not just for the approximately 35,000 people locally who are 70 and older, but for school staff, first responders and non-hospital medical personnel who also qualify right now for the vaccine in Utah.
“At this rate, it would take two months to get people in this group vaccinated. So when the state asked us what help we need, there’s only one answer: We need more vaccines,” Heaton said, adding that the department has an abundance of manpower that could handle a large influx of vaccine supply on day one. “We have staff trained to handle this. We have the staff to do 2,000 a day.”
The wish for more vaccines may have been granted Thursday.
On the second day of his administration, President Joe Biden signed an emergency order Thursday to boost COVID-19 vaccine production and distribution. The order, announced on the one-year anniversary of when the first COVID-19 case was detected in the U. S., is part of a 200-page COVID-19 plan released by the White House.
The order activated the Defense Production Act – the same act used during World War II to boost wartime production – to drastically increase production of both the vaccines as well as the equipment like syringes to administer them.
In this May 2017 file photo, then former Vice President Joe Biden speaks at Harvard University in Cambridge, Mass. June 1, 2017 | Steven Senne/Associated Press/St. George News
The plan calls for 100 million Americans to receive their first dose of the vaccine by May 1. According to the Associated Press, 12.3 million Americans have been vaccinated since late December.
As of Thursday, the Utah Department of Health says 12,887 people in Southern Utah have received their first dose of the vaccine, while 487 people have received their second dose to be fully inoculated. There have 173,587 first doses in the state as a whole.
The more federally-based Biden strategy on COVID-19 vaccine distribution differs from the strategy of the administration of President Donald Trump, which focused on each state relying on its own vaccine policies and distribution. During the recording of the PBS Utah Monthly Governor’s Press Conference Thursday, Gov. Spencer Cox said he welcomed the federal initiative.
“We are excited about this announcement. I’ve just perused through it, but it’s a good thing,” Cox said. “They’re doing the same thing we’ve been doing here with our local health departments.”
Cox gave particular praise to the president’s change to provide 100% federal reimbursement for emergency COVID-19 supplies and the use of national guardsmen to administer COVID-19 tests and vaccines. Until now, the state has had to foot 25% of the bill.
Utah Gov. Spencer J. Cox, right, arrives for a COVID-19 briefing at the Utah State Capitol. Jan. 8, 2021, Salt Lake City, Utah | Photo by Jeffrey D. Allred/Deseret News/Associated Press, St. George News
Cox defended his order earlier in the month that local health districts use up their vaccine supply within seven days. He said the only alternative to that was a slower rollout that would have left vaccine supply sitting in freezers and refrigerators.
“I had to choose between two problems. Either doses sitting on shelves or a crush of people,” Cox said, adding a slower approach would have left the possibility of vaccine sitting unused for too long and needing to be thrown away – something that has been experienced in other states. “I would rather be struck trying to get it than it being thrown away.”
Large vaccination clinic in the plans locally
Another part of the White House vaccine plan is for the creation of larger, mass COVID-19 vaccination clinics nationwide. Some cities are already utilizing stadiums and convention centers to inoculate large amounts of people at once.
A patient receives a flu vaccination from their car at an annual flu shootout, date and location not specified | Photo courtesy of the Southwest Utah Public Health Department, St. George News
Heaton said the Southwest Utah Public Health Department already has a plan to have such a mass clinic and use last September’s flu vaccination “shootout” at the fairgrounds in Washington County Regional Park as a dry run.
“Our flu shootout was in preparation for the vaccine rollout, but the vaccine supply has been more of a trickle so that was scaled down to our offices,” Heaton said, adding that if the supply comes in, they have the staff to immediately move to much larger COVID-19 vaccination clinics. “We’re prepared to do that. We’ve never reached our limit.”
Until the federal reinforcement of vaccine supply arrives, there’s the matter of dealing with the present high-demand, low-supply status of getting people inoculated locally against the virus.
Heaton said Southern Utah has a unique problem compared to the rest of the state, which has a younger demographic.
“The fact is our older demographic is higher than other counties in the state, Heaton said.
A woman named Elizabeth receives COVID-19 vaccination shot from a nurse at the Southwest Utah Public Health Department offices in Cedar City, Utah, Jan. 12, 2021 | Photo by Jeff Richards, St. George News / Cedar City News
Heaton said one issue the department thinks it has fixed is its technical ones, which caused their website to go down several times during vaccination sign-ups earlier this week. The state has provided some aid in this matter.
“Our hosting service made some mistakes so that was confusing,” Heaton said. “We are now hosted by Utah state service which should be robust.”
The reservation slots – for at least the first week of February and possibly the second – are expected to go online through SignUpGenius at 9 a.m. Monday. At the same time, residents will also be able to utilize a hotline at 435-986-2549, though the department said it prefers that people try signing up online first.
“It will be a rush, but hopefully the website will be able to handle it a lot better,” Heaton said.
Second doses get their own place in line
While most Southern Utahns still await getting their first shot of the vaccine, the time is coming up for those that received the vaccine when it was first rolled out to receive the second of two COVID-19 vaccine shots.
Two of the COVID-19 vaccines are seen at Dixie Regional Medical Center in St. George, Utah, on Dec. 16, 2020. | Photo courtesy of Intermountain Healthcare, St. George News
On Thursday, the local health department announced they will not have to compete with the already high demand of others for reservation slots. The Southwest Utah Public Health Department will be holding separate second-shot clinics.
“We’re looking at doing second-dose clinics separately so people may be relieved that they won’t have to compete for slots with those getting their first shots,” Heaton said.
The move comes after the governor announced that like the first doses, the second-dose supply will need to be used within seven days by a local health department or it will go back into the vaccine supply chain.
Second-doses will utilize the same SignUpGenius online form as the first-injection clinics and are also going online Monday.
And like the first-dose clinics, reservation slots may go quicker than the hottest toy of the season on Black Friday. However, Heaton and other health experts say that while a person has to wait 28 days before their second dose, they don’t have to get that second injection on the 28th day.
“There’s not a maximum waiting period so if you can’t get it on the 28th day, you have some leeway,” he said.
Getting the COVID-19 Vaccine
Those who can currently get the vaccine: Everyone ages 70 and over. K-12 teachers and staff, those that work in nonhospital health care facilities (those in clinics, pharmacies, dentists or other medical offices) and first responders, including law enforcement, firefighters and EMTs.
Must register in advance online for an appointment time. Walk-ins will not be accepted.
Must have a personal ID, employment ID (if necessary) and wear a short-sleeve shirt at appointment.
Must get the vaccine in the county you reside in. Proof of residency is required. Part-time residents can get vaccinated with proof of residency.
Vaccines are free of charge.
Those without email addresses or unable to make reservations online can get help at a specialized hotline at 435-986-2549.
Washington County:
Where: Southwest Utah Public Health Department St. George office, 620 S 400 East, 2nd Floor Conference Room, St. George, 84770
When: First dose Jan. 29 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Feb. 4 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m; Second dose Feb. 1 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., Feb. 3 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.
First dose Jan. 29 click to register (opening up Monday)
First dose Feb. 4 click to register (opening up Monday)
Second dose Feb. 1 click to register (opening up Monday)
Second dose Feb. 3 click to register (opening up Monday)
Iron County:
Where: Southwest Utah Public Health Department Cedar City office, 260 DL Sargent Dr., Cedar City, 84721.
When: First dose Thursday, 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. (full), Feb. 2 9 a.m. to 4:15 p.m.; Second dose Feb. 3 9 a.m. to 4:15 p.m; K-12 teachers and staff-only clinic Thursday from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. (full).
First dose click to register (opening up Monday)
Second dose click to register (opening up Monday)
Kane County:
Where: Southwest Utah Public Health Department Kanab office, 445 N. Main St., Kanab 84741.
When: To be announced
Click to register
Garfield County:
Where: Southwest Utah Public Health Department Panguitch office, 601 Center St. Panguitch 84759.
When: To be announced
Click to register (opening up Monday)
Beaver County:
Where: Southwest Utah Public Health Department Beaver Office, 75 1175 North, Beaver 84713.
When: To be announced
(All slots full) Click to register
COVID-19 information resources
St. George News has made every effort to ensure the information in this story is accurate at the time it was written. However, as the situation and science surrounding the coronavirus continues to evolve, it’s possible that some data has changed.
Check the resources below for up-to-date information and resources.
Southern Utah coronavirus count (as of Jan. 15, 2020, seven-day average in parentheses)
Positive COVID-19 tests: 22,355 (199.1 new infections per day in seven days, falling since Jan. 14)
Washington County: 17,129 (135 per day, falling)
Iron County: 3,988 (53.6 per day, falling)
Kane County: 378 (3 per day, falling)
Garfield County: 378 (2.1 per day, falling)
Beaver County: 482 (5.2 per day, falling)
New infections for major Southern Utah cities (numbers released ahead of Southern Utah numbers):
St. George: 68 (falling)
Washington City: 23 (rising)
Hurricane/LaVerkin: 14 (rising)
Ivins City/Santa Clara: 11 (rising)
Cedar City: 40 (falling)
Deaths: 191 (2.9 per day, falling)
Washington County: 155 (11 new since last report: Hospitalized female 65-84, hospitalized male 65-84, long-term care female over 85, hospitalized female 65-84, hospitalized male 65-84, female 45-64 at home, hospitalized male 65-84, long-term care male over 84, long-term care female 65-84, long-term care male 65-84, long-term care male 65-84)
Iron County: 20 (1 new: Long-term care female 65-84)
Garfield County: 9 (2 new: Long-term care female over 85, long-term care male 65-84)
Number of initial vaccine injections in Southern Utah: 12,887
Number of fully vaccinated in Southern Utah: 487
Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2021, all rights reserved.
Chris Reed serves as weekend editor and reporter for St. George News. He has steadily moved east after growing up among the Valley girls of Southern California’s San Fernando Valley. He graduated from Cal State Northridge before spending a decade in Las Vegas. As a sports reporter and editor, he once compared shoe sizes with Shaq. As a news reporter and editor, he has covered parades, triumphs and tragedies. He also once got close to the stars doing publicity for a space module builder. He came to St. George for love and has grown to love the community. He is the proud father of two boys, his youngest a champion against both autism and Type 1 diabetes.
