Utah Tops 1 Million Coronavirus Vaccines Administered

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – Over 1 million doses of the coronavirus vaccine have been administered in the state, according to the officials with the Utah Department of Health. Another four Utahns have died.

Both Gov. Spencer Cox and Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson tweeted about the milestone Saturday morning.

“This is an incredible milestone and speaks to the dedication of our public health teams and private partners,” Cox tweeted.

In her post, Henderson said 1,015,380 vaccines had been administered. In their latest update, health officials reported just under 1 million shots given. A spokesperson explained the discrepancy, saying an internal source updates more frequently than the once-a-day public updates.

They said the public dashboard would hit 1 million Sunday.

This morning Utah officially crossed the 1 million mark for vaccine doses delivered! This is an incredible milestone and speaks to the dedication of our public health teams and private partners. Thanks to everyone who stepped up in a historic way. We are just getting started.

— Spencer Cox (@SpencerJCox) March 13, 2021

 

Officials reported an additional 491 new cases of the virus have been confirmed. Over 4 million tests have been administered in the state.

The number of people hospitalized for the virus was 144.

The latest deaths bring the total number of Utahns lost to COVID-19 to 2,021 – 46 more in the last week.

Vaccinations

At least one dose of the vaccine has been administered to 658,970 people in Utah, including health workers, educators, residents age 65 and older and high-risk individuals age 16 and older.

In their daily report, health officials said the state has administered 993,168 first and second vaccinations. Of those vaccinated, 358,198 people have been fully immunized with both doses.

According to numbers reported by the health department, 25,687 vaccines have been administered since numbers reported Saturday, and more than 139,000 in the last week.

Officials reported 1,163,265 vaccines delivered to the state.

State epidemiologist Dr. Angela Dunn encouraged everyone eligible for vaccinations to set their appointments before the vaccine is opened to all adults, when demand was expected to increase.

As of this morning Utah has officially administered over 1 million vaccines—a total of 1,015,380 shots in arms! This is an incredible milestone that we could not have accomplished without the tireless efforts of thousands of people. Hope is on the horizon! @UtahDepOfHealth

— Deidre Henderson (@DeidreHenderson) March 13, 2021

Testing

Health officials reported a total of 2,285,714 Utah residents have been tested for the novel coronavirus – an increase 6,451 since Friday and 42,020 in the last week.

Officials reported 377,983 residents have tested positive for the virus since the pandemic began – an increase of 491 cases in the last day. Of those tested since Friday, 7.6 percent were positive. There has been an increase of 3,545 cases in the last week.

The rolling seven-day average for positive tests was 510 per day. The rolling seven-day average for percent of positive laboratory tests was 8.5 percent.

Including people who have been tested more than once, just over 4 million tests have been administered in the state.

Hospitalizations

The health department reported 144 people were being treated for COVID-19 in Utah hospitals. Total hospitalizations since the pandemic began was 15,085 people.

Utah officials said 70.5 percent of the 529 ICU beds across the state were full. Of those, 59 were being used by patients confirmed to have COVID-19. An additional 18 patients in ICU beds were suspected of having COVID-19, pending additional testing.

The remaining ICU beds were used by patients with other critical medical conditions. Hospital officials have said there was staffing for around 85 percent of those beds.

Deaths

An additional four Utahns have died of COVID-19 in the last day, according to the Utah Department of Health.

The latest deaths included two women and two men. All but one were over the age of 65.

There have been 2,021 total deaths of residents from the disease in the Beehive State since the pandemic began – an increase of 46 in the last week.

Davis County

Officials reported the deaths of two Davis County people – one woman and one man. The woman was living in a long-term care facility. The man had been hospitalized.

Their deaths brought the total in the county to 147.

Washington County

A Washington County woman was among the deaths reported by the state Saturday. They said she had been hospitalized for treatment.

Her death brought the total in the county to 191, and the total in the area covered by the Southwest Utah Health Department to 245. The health district also includes Garfield, Iron, Kane and Washington counties.

Unknown County

Health officials said a Utah man between the ages of 45 to 64 also died of COVID-19. He had not been hospitalized, and his county of residence was unknown.

Health officials said the deaths reported reflected the numbers of people who died specifically because of the effects of the coronavirus disease.

“The Office of the Medical Examiner conducts thorough investigations of all potential COVID-related deaths. These investigations can take several weeks to complete,” officials said.

National/Worldwide Numbers

There have been over 29.3 million confirmed cases of coronavirus in the United States – with around 300,000 new cases in the last week.

Over 532,000 Americans have died of the disease, according to numbers compiled by the Coronavirus Resource Center at John Hopkins University.

Across the globe there have been over 119.2 million cases and 2,642,656 2,590,159 deaths – up more than 50,000 in the last week.

With just 4 percent of the worldwide population, the United States has accounted for 24.6 percent of the global cases and 20.2 percent of the deaths since the pandemic began.

With one percent of the US population, Utah has accounted for about 0.4 percent of the country’s deaths, meaning the state has fared better than the national average in mortality rates.

The first US case was confirmed on January 21, 2020. The number of new cases in the nation has skyrocketed in November, with a spike significantly higher than any other country.

During the 2019-2020 flu season, an estimates 38 million people caught the influenza virus, requiring 18 million doctor visits and causing 22,000 deaths, according for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Around 35,900 deaths have been attributed to the flu annually, going back to the 2010-2011 flu season. Only twice during that time has the number of deaths exceeded 50,000 – once in 2014-2015, when there were 51,000 deaths, and again in 2017-2018, when there were an estimates 61,000 deaths.

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Coronavirus Resources

Have you or a family member been affected by coronavirus issues in Utah? KSL wants to hear from you. Contact KSL by emailing social@ksl.com.

Click here to sign up for a vaccine and here to see how Utah’s vaccine rollout is progressing.

The latest COVID-19 stories from KSL can be found here.

How do I prevent it?

The CDC has some simple recommendations, most of which are the same for preventing other respiratory illnesses or the flu:

• Avoid close contact with people who may be sick
• Avoid touching your face
• Stay home when you are sick
• Cover your cough or sneeze with a tissue and then throw the tissue in the trash
• Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds, especially after going to the bathroom, before eating, and after blowing your nose, coughing or sneezing. Always wash your hands with soap and water if your hands are visibly dirty.
• If soap and water are not readily available, use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer with at least 60% alcohol.

The CDC recommends wearing cloth face coverings in public settings where other social distancing measures are difficult to maintain (e.g., grocery stores and pharmacies), especially in areas of significant community-based transmission.