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Utahns 50 and older can make appointments Monday to get their COVID-19 vaccinations, Gov. Spencer Cox announced Thursday.
He also said that younger adult Utahns with certain health conditions may seek a vaccine. Those new qualifying conditions are diabetes, type 1 or type 2, obesity with a BMI index of 30 or higher, and anyone with chronic kidney disease.
Cox made the announcement during his weekly COVID-19 media briefing, streamed via Facebook Live from the Utah Capitol.
“This is a huge addition to suitability,” said Cox. “Which means it will not be possible for everyone in these areas to get an appointment right away,” he added. People will have to “be patient, will have to come back”.
He asked the newly eligible Utahns to wait until Monday to make appointments.
In April, Cox said, the state hopes to be able to open up vaccinations to all adults in Utah, “assuming everything goes according to plan.”
The news comes a day after Utah hospitals began receiving shipments of the Johnson & Johnson one-time vaccine that was approved for emergency use by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Saturday.
Before Thursday, Utahns 65 and older were eligible for the vaccine, along with people over the age of 18 with certain serious or chronic medical conditions, health professionals, first responders, teachers and residents, and staff at long-term care facilities.
Cox announced that six counties – Cache, Davis, Grand, Salt Lake, Sanpete and Wasatch – will transition to the state’s “moderate” transmission categories. They join seven other provinces previously in the “moderate” category.
“There are no restrictions on ‘moderate’ gatherings,” said Cox, “as long as they wear masks.”
Cox also said he wanted to “reflect on the fact that we’ve lost nearly 2,000 Utahns to this insidious disease.”
Cox said a year ago he was state epidemiologist Dr. Angela Dunn asked how bad the pandemic could get. The worst-case scenario, Dunn told Cox, was that 20,000 Utahns died from COVID-19; the best the state could hope for was 2,000 dead.
“We are very grateful and excited to be in the best scenario of that,” said Cox.
Dunn urged Utahns to accept the three vaccines they receive when seeking an appointment. “The best vaccine you can get is the one you can get first, regardless of manufacturer,” she said.
This story is under development and will be updated.