The state expects to have 1.5 million doses by April 10.
(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Kris Romijin gets the vaccine against MacKenzie Heffernan’s Covid-19 at Sandy’s Mountain America Expo on Monday, March 8, 2021.
Gov. Spencer Cox, driven by the imminent end of the state’s mask mandate on April 10, said he anticipates COVID-19 vaccines will be available to all adults in Utah on April 1. .
“Once it became clear that the legislature planned to end the term of the mask immediately, and with a majority of veto evidence,” Cox spokeswoman Jennifer Napier-Pearce said, “our administration worked with them to make set back the date to vaccinate as many people as possible “.
She went on to say, “We anticipate the possibility of opening the vaccination to all adults in the state on April 1. It will probably have 1.5 million doses in the state on April 10.”
(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Governor Spencer Cox takes off his mask while keeping media available at the Salt Lake City Capitol on Friday, March 5, 2021, during the last day of the general session of the legislature of Utah in 2021.
The announcement echoes what Cox said in a Fox News appearance Friday: “We anticipate that on April 1, all adults in the state of Utah will be eligible for the vaccine,” the governor said. , adding that he expected Utah to “have approximately 1.5 million vaccines in the state by April 10, when that mandate expires.”
Although the state mask mandate will end on April 10, Napier-Pearce noted that it will continue after that date in schools and for large meetings.
“Plus, companies may still require masks,” he said. “And, of course, every individual can choose to wear a mask.”
Matt Caputo, CEO of Caputo’s Deli, said the mask’s tenure eased tensions with some customers of his business in a video he posted on social media. He urged the governor to veto the bill ending the mask mandate on April 10, although lawmakers could vote to overturn that veto.
“Before the Herbert government established the state mask mandate, our crew dealt several times a day with vitriol and negativity (like really crazy people),” he said in the video. “It became the hardest part of the pandemic. And it was very draining and it burned a lot of people. “
He said ending the mask mandate on April 10 “is absolutely outrageous before our essential workers can be fully vaccinated.”
Caputo expressed his skepticism that the vaccine will be available to all adults from April 1 and questioned how many people could be “fully vaccinated” before April 10 (Modern and Pfizer vaccines require two separate doses several weeks).
He urged Cox to veto the bill to give workers “the opportunity to be completely vaccinated. They’ve been working with it every day. They’re baffled. They’re tired. And many are scared.”