(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Megan Low administers a Covid 19 vaccine against Margret Maumau, during a press conference, as the Utah Department of Health announces that it is equipping itself with Intermountain Healthcare, Nomi Health and the University of Utah Health, to open mass vaccination sites for the next phase of COVID-19 vaccinations, on Monday, March 1, 2021.
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With a third COVID-19 vaccine expected to arrive in Utah this week, the Utah Department of Health joins three major healthcare companies to open 14 new mass vaccination sites.
The department announced Monday that it is working with Orm-based Intermountain Healthcare, the University of Utah Health and Nomi Health to open the sites, which include eight Logan hospitals in St. Louis. George, a health clinic and five Megaplex Theaters locations.
UDOH spokesman Tom Hudachko said the state is adding these sites because “we quickly get to this point … [where] We were getting enough doses in the state that we would exceed the capacity of the local health department to be able to administer all the doses. “
“Getting the vaccine has many benefits, for yourself, your family, and your community,” said Dr. Kristin Dascomb, medical director of infection prevention and health for Intermountain Healthcare employees, during a media conference call Monday to announce the launch. “Every person who gets vaccinated brings us one step closer to our goal of immunity to the herd.”
Intermountain Healthcare plans to add vaccination sites to seven of its hospitals across the state: Logan Regional Hospital in Logan; McKay-Dee Hospital in Ogden; Murray Specialized Orthopedic Hospital (TOSH); Park City Hospital and Park City; Riverton de Riverton Hospital; Sant Jordi Regional Hospital in Sant Jordi; and Utah Valley Hospital in Provo. People can sign up for an appointment with Intermountain at Intermountain.com/covidvaccine.
Nomi Health, based in Orem, will open locations in five locations of the Megaplex Theaters chain: Thanksgiving Point in Lehi; Geneva and Vineyard; The district in southern Jordan; Valley Fair in West Valley City; and Legacy Crossing in Centerville.
“People like to rest [the Megaplex] seats during the [15-minute] observation period, ”said Dr. June Steely, medical director of Nomi Health.
All locations except Centerville are open 8 to 18 hours daily. Steely said the Centerville location will open on Thursday and the locations of other Megaplex sites will continue in the coming weeks.
Nomi Health’s pre-registration website is vaccines.nomihealth.com/utah.
The University of Utah Health begins with two Salt Lake City locations: the University of Utah Hospital and the Redwood Health Center. The university will add locations next week at Sugar House, Farmington and South Jordan, a University of Utah Health spokeswoman said.
The university’s health care system uses its electronic medical records to identify patients eligible for the vaccine and invites them to make an appointment, said Dr. Richard Orlandi, chief outpatient health physician at the University of Utah Health.
Dr. Jose Rodriguez, associate medical director of the U.S. Redwood Health Center, said Monday was the first day the Salt Lake City West Side Clinic administered the vaccine to people under 65 who have medical illnesses. underlying.
“A vaccine deployment is about getting it to the people most at risk,” said Rodriguez, who is also an associate vice president at the University of Utah Health for equity, diversity and health inclusion. “The whole point is to reach the people who need it most first.”
To target the new group of eligible vaccine recipients, the Redwood Clinic agreed that three recent organ transplant recipients — one heart transplant recipient and two kidney recipients — should receive the vaccine in front of the media.
Rodriguez noted that organ transplant patients are at special risk for COVID-19 because they take medications that suppress their immune system, so their bodies do not reject their new organs.
Gus Garcia, who received a kidney in 2018, said “we were all looking forward to this call” that the COVID-19 vaccine could get. “We were very happy to know that it is finally happening to us,” he added.
As a transplant recipient, Garcia said, he wore masks in public and practiced constant hand washing well before the COVID-19 pandemic made these practices common to everyone. During the pandemic, he said, “You had to go up that level and you had to be very, very sure where you were going, what you were doing. And make sure you have all your supplies – extra masks, extra gloves, additional disinfectant “.
In Utah, anyone 65 years of age or older and anyone 16 years of age or older with certain underlying medical conditions, as well as teachers, health care workers, first aid and residents, and long-term care center staff, are eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.
Hudachko said the state is expected to receive a total of 122,000 doses of vaccine this week. These include the first and second doses of the Pfizer and Modern versions, which have been available since December, and the new single-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine, which was approved by federal officials on Saturday and is expected to arrive in Utah Wednesday.
On the UDOH website, coronavirus.utah.gov/vaccine-distribution, Utahns can check their eligibility and find links to appointments through local health care districts, pharmacies or health care providers, Hudachko said. .