”This virus does not sleep. This virus does not take weekends off. And neither should we,” Cox said Friday at his first COVID-19 media briefing.
Under the order, facilities must allocate their vaccinations within the week they are received, Cox said. If they don’t, their leftover doses will be redistributed by the state to other facilities, he said.
Also, every facility must report daily statistics to the Utah Department of Health by 7 a.m. every day.
Local health districts will manage the vaccine distribution, Cox said. They are being tasked to give out 50,000 doses of vaccine a week.
“We will be able to exceed, with capacity, the actual number of doses we are receiving,” Cox said.
The state has received 5,000 doses of monoclonal antibodies — the same infusion treatment that President Donald Trump received when he contracted COVID-19 last fall — and they will be distributed to Utah’s long-term care facilities, Cox said.
“Unfortunately, this disease is surging again,” Cox said. “The fundamentals still apply, my fellow Utahns. Wear a mask. Social distancing. Contact tracing.”
Asked about a report that the incoming Biden administration will release all available vaccine doses immediately, Cox said, “we are prepared, and will be ready, when and if that actually occurs.”
This story is developing and will be updated.
