Utah’s Mass Vaccination Locations Seeing Declines In Attendance

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – As vaccination numbers start to drop across the county, mass clinics in Utah have also seen a decline in people showing up for the shots.

Officials said the mass-vaccination clinics set up in locations like the Dee Events Center in Ogden and the Mountain America Expo Center in Sandy could close if response doesn’t pick up.

That doesn’t mean Utahns won’t be able to get vaccinated. Health departments across the state have been trying to determine how to best utilize resources to ensure they don’t waste doses.

The clinic set up by the Weber-Morgan Health Department at The Dee Event Center in Ogden saw a huge drop-off in people making appointments Monday, or walking-in to get shots.

They said demand was down 75 percent.

Emergency services manager Skyler Pyle said up until just a few days ago, they were full, with a staff of 100 people giving upwards of 1600 vaccinations a day.

“We were hoping to get our numbers plumped up, staying open later in the evening, but our numbers are extremely low,” Pyle said.

She said if Tuesday was a repeat, they won’t keep late hours and they will look at shifting their focus to mobile-style clinics, set up to serve small locations – like schools, neighborhoods or churches.

Still, people like Ken Scharman, who got his first COVID-19 vaccine Monday night after 7 p.m., the late hours were critical.

“I can’t get away from work to get it done,” she said. “It’s very nice to have the hours the way they are.”

Across the county, “vaccine enthusiasm” has started to dwindle. Pyle said the shots are still very important to getting back to some kind of normal.

“There are still hundreds of appointments available,” she said.