Many COVID-19 restrictions lift in Washington County, vaccine eligibility expands to some high-risk - St George News

That comes after Washington County moved to the “moderate” level of the Utah COVID-19 Transmission Index on Thursday.  .

Cox set an optimistic tone in the press conference, including once again expanding the eligibility of those who can receive the COVID-19 vaccine a week early.

Immediately, people with some high-risk health conditions and comorbidities are eligible for the vaccine.

As part of that finish line, the Utah Department of Health earlier this week announced the criteria for when the mask mandate would end.

According to the new health order, there are two criteria for the mask mandate to be lifted:  The state needs to reach 70%, or 1,633,000 residents receiving at least a first dose of the vaccine, while a county can end the mask mandate once it is at a low transmission level in the COVID-19 Transmission Index. .

In Southern Utah, Garfield County remains the one area at a low transmission rate a week after first reaching that level.

According to the Utah Department of Health, Washington County now has a test positivity rate of 7.29% and 313.2 people infected with the virus for every 100,000 in population – down from 9.21% and 414.1 the week before.

While people in Washington County can celebrate some progress against the coronavirus, one area that is far from seeing restrictions lifted is Kane County.

According to the Utah Department of Health, Kane County has a 31.31% test positivity rate and 1,258.3 infections per 100,000 – both the worst numbers in the state in each category.

As of last Friday, 59 of the 71 active COVID-19 cases in Kane County were inmates at the jail,  Alldredge said.

According to the Southwest Utah Public Health Department, as of Wednesday there were 108 active cases in Kane County, which has a population of 7,484 according to U.S.

A week after moving up the eligibility timetable for those ages 65-69 to receive the vaccine, Cox made those with some high-risk health conditions immediately eligible to receive the vaccine.

The governor also removed the restriction where people could only receive the vaccine in the county they reside in, though residents will still need to receive both shots in the same location. .

Those with the following high-risk conditions are now eligible to receive the vaccine as long as they are ages 18 or over:.

Those in that age group with one of the eligible health conditions can receive the vaccine as long as it is the Pfizer vaccine.

That may be difficult in Southern Utah, where the Southwest Utah Public Health Department is only providing the Moderna vaccine at its clinics. .

However, as vaccine supplies are going up, so are the number of providers outside the local health department providing the vaccine. .

And Albertsons, which has vaccine appointments available for the first week of March, is currently the only Southern Utah outlet providing Pfizer. .

Also providing Pfizer is another provider, national vaccine provider Nomi Health, which is providing the Pfizer vaccine in a partnership to hold mass vaccination clinics at Larry H.

Another option coming on is the Johnson and Johnson COVID-19 vaccine, which is within a week of FDA approval.

However, Dunn said other than 16- to 18-year-olds, there is no reason for people to be shopping around for a particular vaccine thus far, as all of the vaccines – including Johnson and Johnson – have proven 100% effective at keeping COVID-19 from causing death or hospitalization. .

Getting the COVID-19 vaccine.

Where: Southwest Utah Public Health Department Cedar City office, 260 DL Sargent Drive, Cedar City.

Where: Southwest Utah Public Health Department Kanab office, 445 N.

Where: Southwest Utah Public Health Department Panguitch office, 601 Center St.

Where: Southwest Utah Public Health Department Beaver Office,  75 1175 North, Beaver!

New infections for major Southern Utah cities (numbers released ahead of Southern Utah numbers):

Vaccines shipped to  Southern Utah: 55,050 (+13,800)

Number of initial vaccine injections in Southern Utah: 31,361 (+2,043)

Number of fully vaccinated in Southern Utah: 15,581 (+2,407)