SALT LAKE CITY – Utah Department of Health officials said on Sunday the agency plans to work with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to make sure it gets a “fair share” of the COVID-19 vaccine .
The health department made that announcement in a series of “vaccine transparency” statements following a report from the Salt Lake Tribune Saturday that said Utah had received fewer COVID-19 vaccine doses per capita than other states.
The department recognized that vaccines were distributed to states based on the proportion of the adult population. Since Utah’s median age is the youngest in the country, the state was expected to receive fewer doses.
“We have no reason to believe Utah is getting fewer doses than it should,” the agency’s statement read in part.
“We checked with the CDC to make sure Utah is getting a fair share of the vaccine,” it continues. “They are not aware of any discrepancies, but have agreed to check their figures for accuracy.”
Since the introduction of the COVID-19 vaccine began in mid-December, most vaccine doses have passed into the arms of medical professionals and rescuers. It is also approved for residents of long-term care facilities, educators and the elderly. In Utah, anyone 70 or older is eligible for the vaccine. Some states have begun to vaccinate people 65 and older.
Individuals 70 years of age or older made up only 6% of the state’s population at the time of the 2010 census; about 13% were persons aged 60 or older. More than three-quarters of the state’s population was under 50 at the time.
While the Census Bureau still does not have definitive Census data for 2020, estimates from recent years would indicate that Utah is still strongly leaning toward a young population, including ages not yet eligible for the vaccine based on federal rollout guidelines. For example, it estimated that only 16% of the state’s 3.2 million residents were over 65 in 2019.
CDC data updated Sunday night shows that South Carolina (8,803 per 100,000) was the last in the distribution of COVID-19 vaccines per capita in the US, followed by Nevada (9,316 per 100,000). But the data shows all vaccine distributions since mid-December, including doses delivered to health professionals, counselors, and teachers, many of which fall within the range of 65-70 or older. It also doesn’t specify how many were provided specifically for long-term care – something the federal government oversees.
Neither the CDC nor the state health service provides a breakdown of the vaccines delivered or administered based on groups who received the vaccine. The health department said on Sunday that it briefly provided data on where vaccines went in the state, but pulled that information “as we went through a data quality assurance process.” It is expected to return to the department’s COVID-19 dashboard in the near future.
Meanwhile, Utah Governor Spencer Cox announced last week that the state would provide new data on the time between entering and administering vaccine doses. The state released a new dataset on Thursday showing the number of vaccine doses older than seven days that had still not been used.
“No dose should be on the shelf for more than seven days,” Cox said at a news conference. “My only focus has been on the first doses, because the first doses are driving the second doses, and any capacity we have to get vaccines out needs to be focused on those first doses as soon as possible.”
The state reported 31,398 unused vaccine doses older than seven days that day. More than 80% of that was reserved for federal pharmacy partners tasked with administering vaccines in long-term care facilities.
In its response on Sunday, the Utah health department updated the figure to 26,399 unused vaccine doses. Community nursing services and local health departments – those in charge of administering doses to emergency responders and residents – had used up all of their allocated supply, while hospitals and clinics had used up 96% of their supplies and federal pharmacy partners had used up 49. %.
The health department said on Sunday that federal pharmacy partners had a total of 28,010 unused doses – 23,235 of which were reserved for first-use doses. The department claimed that while pharmacies like CVS and Walgreens “do an excellent job” of vaccinating the staff and patients of long-term care facilities, the federal government made too many doses available to long-term care facilities than needed.
“Some of these doses are likely to be available in preparation for upcoming clinics this week. However, it appears that the federal government has allocated too much vaccine to these suppliers,” the health department said.
“We will make sure that Walgreens and CFS are getting the doses they need to meet their obligation in long-term care facilities,” the department continues. “But all higher doses must be transferred or diverted to other providers in the state who have the ability to get them under arms as soon as possible.”
Nearly 230,000 Utahns have already received the COVID-19 vaccine, according to an update from the state health department Monday.
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Carter Williams