Salt Lake County begins scheduling vaccine appointments for everyone 16 and older.
(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Nurse Ashley Hafer fills syringes with the Moderna vaccine for people lining up on Thursday, March 18, 2021, while the Utah Film Studios lends its space to the Summit County Health Department as a drive- thru COVID -19 vaccination station.
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After a slow Sunday, when only 4,144 Utahns were tested for COVID-19, the state reported the fewest new cases in 10 months – just 159. And no new deaths were added to the state total.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention – and confirmed by the Utah Department of Health – Utah has recorded its first case of the P.1, or Brazilian, variant of the coronavirus. This variant is believed to be more easily transmissible, more serious and possibly more resistant to current vaccines. No information has been released about the Utahn who entered into the contract.
On Monday, Salt Lake County was the first in the state to start scheduling appointments for everyone 16 and older – and it did a good business setting up the vaccinations.
At 9 a.m., the county health department opened 46,760 appointments for the month of April; by 5:00 pm it had booked 18,590. Thus, more than 28,000 remain, with April 13 being the earliest available date.
(The Salt Lake County Health Department has determined the number of appointments based on the number of vaccines it expects to have, not the capacity at the sites.)
Last week, Gov. Spencer Cox announced that starting Wednesday, everyone 16 and older will be eligible for a COVID-19 vaccine. They are now available to anyone 50 and older, and to some people 16 and older if they had pre-existing conditions.
Other counties in the state are expected to start planning their new round of appointments on Wednesday.
Vaccine Doses Administered Over the Last Day / Total Doses Administered • 2,496 / 1,154,778.
Utahns fully vaccinated • 419,623.
Cases reported in the past day • 159.
Deaths reported in the past day • No.
Hospital admissions reported in the past day • 147. That has been unchanged since Sunday. Of those currently hospitalized, 52 are in intensive care units – the same as on Sunday.
Tests reported in the past day • 2,333 people were tested for the first time. A total of 4,144 people were tested.
Percentage of positive tests • According to the state’s original method, the rate is 6.8%. That is lower than the 7-day average of 8%.
The new method counts all test results, including repeated tests from the same person. Monday’s rate is now at 3.8%, slightly lower than the seven-day average of 4.1%.
Totals so far • 381,788 cases; 2,062 dead; 15,293 hospital admissions; 2,334,049 people tested.