As more and more vaccines are distributed in Utah, vaccine equity continues to be an important part of the effort.
“The federal government, together with the state governments have made an effort from the very beginning to reach out to our tribal leaders to get vaccines out there," Governor Spencer Cox said. "San Juan county led the state in vaccinations, and I think still do, they’re in the top three because their Native American population got vaccinated first.”
On Thursday, Gov. Cox provided updates about vaccine distribution in Utah, and reported on the success the state has seen from increasing equity efforts.
After seeing a gap in vaccination quantities administered to multicultural communities, efforts to get vaccines to these communities were announced early in March.
Since then, vaccinations for white individuals have increased by 262% and vaccinations administered to Native American have increased by 223%.
The Asian population has seen a vaccination increase of 459%, the Black community by 345%, the Hispanic and Latino community a 463% increase, and the Native Hawaiian Pacific Islander community has seen a 432% increase.
Gov. Cox also announced a change in vaccine policy for individuals who have tested positive for COVID-19.
“We are no longer discouraging individuals who have tested positive for COVID-19 within the last 90 days to wait to get their COVID-19 vaccines," he said.
As of Thursday, 1.8 million first and second doses had been administered in the state, which was an increase of 40,000 from the day before and an increase of 204,969 from the week before.
