All Utah adults eligible for COVID-19 vaccine March 24

 All Utah adults will be eligible to schedule an appointment for the COVID-19 vaccine starting March 24, Gov. Spencer Cox announced Thursday.

Utahns ages 16 to 18 will only be eligible to receive the Pfizer vaccine, which is the only vaccine that has received federal approval for that age group thus far, Cox added during a news conference.

The governor stressed that there will not be enough doses of the vaccine by March 24 to keep up with demand. People will be eligible to make an appointment for the vaccine next week, but their appointments may still be several weeks out, he added.

"We know we need to do better," Cox said. "We need more vaccine to make that happen."

The eligibility expansion will happen sooner than the previous expected date of April 1, and it comes at the request of local health departments to broaden eligibility sooner than previously planned, the governor said.

The state has implemented a vaccination roadmap for underserved populations, such as multicultural communities and homeless individuals. That process includes sending mobile vaccination units into multicultural and rural communities that otherwise don't have enough access to the vaccine.

When those mobile units get sent to those areas, it's easier for vaccine administrators to simply offer doses to as many people as possible instead of worrying about their age or health status or another eligibility factor, Cox said. The expansion to everyone next week will make things easier for those situations, so health districts and community partners requested the governor make the change, he said.

Health officials have said 70-90% of a given population needs to be vaccinated for herd immunity to be reached. Cox said Utah won't be able to achieve herd immunity if the majority of the state is vaccinated, but pockets remain in those underserved populations where only 30-40% of people have received the vaccine.

The state has administered 140,000 vaccine doses over the past week, and 87% of Utahns aged 70 and over have received at least one dose, Cox said Thursday. A large number of people under the age of 50 who have underlying health conditions have also received a dose, he added.

Utah is expecting a large increase in its vaccine allocation toward the end of March and into April as Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson all are set to ramp up the production of their respective vaccines, Cox said.

"We are really happy with where things are right now," the governor added.

https://www.ksl.com/article/50128750/all-utah-adults-eligible-for-covid-19-vaccine-next-week-as-state-sees-560-new-cases-5-deaths-25k-vaccinations