FILE: Utah Gov. Spencer Cox at a weekly COVID-19 briefing. Photo: KSL NewsRadio via Facebook Live
SALT LAKE CITY – Utah’s governor announced efforts Thursday to take COVID-19 vaccines “to the people.” Among those efforts includes a new mobile vaccination clinic that will be available to businesses, churches and community groups.
“We hope this will jump start a new wave of demand, ” said Gov. Spencer Cox during his weekly COVID-19 briefing.
The COVID-19 vaccine supply is now outweighing demand, according to the governor. While Utahns wait for their vaccine, he said people still need to take precautions.
“The longer that virus is allowed to be here and to spread and to grow, the more likely it is that we could get variants that don’t respond to the vaccine,” Cox said.
Cox said the state will also work to distribute COVID-19 vaccines to individual clinics and doctors’ offices.
State Epidemiologist Dr. Angela Dunn said while new cases are at a plateau, they are seeing outbreaks in some schools and tourist areas. She said the outbreaks actually show the effectiveness of the COVID-19 vaccines, because many of the people who are now getting infected are too young for vaccinations.
Dunn urged older teens and younger adults to get vaccinated, and to continue to take other precautions.
“The more we see individuals stop taking the precautions, if they are susceptible to the virus, the more spread of the virus we’re going to see,” Dunn said. “So, that’s definitely a concern.”
This comes as the Salt Lake County Health Department announced Thursday it would open additional hours at the Mountain America Expo vaccination clinic that would operate appointment-free. Other county health departments are looking at offering this same kind of walk-in accommodation as well.
Utah health officials on Thursday reported 463 new COVID-19 cases. The average number of new cases over the last week is 380. The Department of Health also reported seven additional deaths, all of which happened before April 1.