Utah To Receive Fewer Doses Than Expected Of Pfizer Vaccine
Dec 18, 2020, 10:46 PM | Updated: 11:29 pm
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – Utah’s hospitals said they will “adjust” Friday after the Utah Department of Health announced that for unknown reasons, the state will receive about 30% less of the Pfizer vaccine than they have planned for.
The news came just hours before the U.S. Food and Drug Administrations issued emergency-use authorization for Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine.
According to the state’s website, 1,347 people had received the Pfizer vaccine in Utah as of Friday. The vaccine arrived Monday and by Tuesday, health care workers exposed to patients with COVID-19 were first in line to receive it.
The Health Department tells me they haven't received an explanation for receiving fewer doses next week. But I'm told that will be offset at least in part by the fact that vials of the vaccine received this week had extra doses in them. #ksltv
— Matt Rascon KSL (@MattRasconKSL) December 18, 2020
Not long after, hospital staff members were delighted to learn the vials of the Pfizer vaccine contained not five but six doses — 20% more than expected. A welcome addition and something that could help offset the lower amount of the vaccine coming to the state in week two.
The Utah Department of Health posted on Twitter Friday, “Like many other states, this afternoon we learned we will be receiving fewer doses of the Pfizer vaccine next week than we were planning for. 16,575 doses instead of the 23,400 we were planning for. Working now to figure out why.”
As of Friday night, there was no clear explanation.
Intermountain Healthcare told KSL-TV in response they’re “grateful for what we have received and excited to have started vaccinating our caregivers. We will adjust as we have the entire pandemic and administer vaccine as we get it, and still continue to encourage everyone to mask up, social distance, wash hands and stay home when you are sick.”
University of Utah Health officials said, “We’re busy administering what we currently have and will adjust our rollout plan as needed. While we feel like we’re starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel we continue to ask everyone to continue to mask up and social distance.”
Chris Taylor with Mountainstar Healthcare, which began administering the vaccine to healthcare workers at Saint Mark’s Hospital on Friday, said, “The expectation has always been that distribution timing would be somewhat fluid, and we’re certainly understanding of that. Bottom line: We’ll take what we can get just as soon as we can get it.”
