Utah’s First COVID-19 Vaccinations Could Start Next Week
Dec 9, 2020, 5:40 PM | Updated: 6:21 pm
(Photo by Victoria Jones - Pool / Getty Images)
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – Utah Governor-elect Spencer Cox urged the people of Utah to fight through pandemic fatigue because the first Utahns will likely be vaccinated next week.
Cox was part of a vaccine town hall hosted by KSL NewsRadio Wednesday called “The Vaccines: Hope on the Horizon.”
“It’s about getting the vaccine, those shots into arms as quickly as possible,” said Cox.
Distribution will be the key, he said, and none of the vaccine should be wasted.
“Every person that gets that vaccine is one more person that’s not going to get that disease,” Cox said. “But even more importantly, we hope somebody who cannot transmit the disease to somewhere else, someone the disease dies in.”
Utah ordered its first batch of the Pfizer vaccine last week.
According to Cox and health department officials, they expect to be vaccinating frontline health care workers soon.
“Next week, real people are going to be getting these shots, and then 150,000 over the next month, plus,” said Cox.
Cox, state epidemiologist Dr. Angela Dunn and state immunization program manager Rich Lakin joined host Amanda Dickson for the town hall.
“Hope is on the horizon is exactly what we’re talking about, and this is the best news we’ve had in nine months,” Cox said.
They expect the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to approve emergency use authorization Thursday for the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine. A Centers for Disease Control and Protection advisory board will then meet to make specific recommendations on the Pfizer vaccine.
“Shipment expected on the weekend, or potentially Monday,” Dunn said. “So we can potentially have the first Utahn vaccinated next week.”
“We don’t anticipate that there would be any large number of severe allergic reactions to the vaccine,” Lakin said. “But we can expect that there will be some mild ones.”
Lakin still does not know if this will be a lifelong vaccine. He said that information may come with the emergency use authorization when it is granted.
Also, the vaccine is not approved for use on people under 18, but that information also could be updated as the vaccine campaign rolls out over the next few months.
For those who fear the vaccine was rushed, Cox said, it was done quickly, but not rushed. Technology enabled the vaccination development process to be compressed.
“We did not sacrifice safety,” Cox said. “We did not sacrifice quality. Yet, we were able to get speed by having everything run concurrently. It was brilliant and we are just excited.”
He urged Utahns to remain vigilant to protect each other.
“If we can hold on just a little bit longer, we can save lives,” Cox said. “There are people who are going to die who don’t have to die.”
Hospital workers and those working and living in long-term care facilities will roll up their sleeves first.
If the current timeline holds, most Utahns can expect to get vaccinated in the late spring.