Monday evening, December 14, 2020
State
Utah Receives First Doses Of COVID-19 Vaccine
Two Utah hospitals received their first shipments of the COVID-19 vaccine Monday morning. Utah Valley Regional Hospital in Provo and the LDS hospital in Salt Lake City each received about 2,000 doses of the recently approved Pfizer vaccine and will begin vaccinating employees Wednesday afternoon. The two locations had been among the five hospitals chosen to receive the vaccine first, along with the Intermountain Medical Center, Dixie Regional Medical Center and the University of Utah. Those hospitals are expecting to receive their first doses Tuesday or by the end of the week at the latest. Read the full story. — Jon Reed
Utah COVID-19 Update
For the first time in two weeks, Utah health officials reported fewer than 2,000 new COVID-19 cases in a single day, as the state’s department of health announced 1,968 cases Monday. Officials also announced seven more Utahns have died from the disease. It’s just the second time in the past week fewer than 10 deaths have been reported in one day. There are 572 people currently hospitalized from COVID-19, which is down compared to last week this time. But ICU beds are still nearly 90% full. — Ross Terrell
Follow KUER’s coverage of the coronavirus in Utah.
Northern Utah
Utah State University Football Team Protests Discriminatory Comments
Utah State University will bring in an independent investigator to review remarks made by University President Noelle Cockett, according to a statement the university’s Board of Trustees released Saturday. The move comes after the USU football team boycotted its final game of the season to protest what they describe as alleged “discriminatory comments” toward interim head coach Frank Maile. Read the full story.— David Fuchs
Southern Utah
COVID-19 Vaccine Heading To Navajo Nation
Nearly 4,000 doses of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine are scheduled to arrive on the Navajo Nation this week, according to the tribe’s president. They are being distributed by Indian Health Service clinics and will be given to frontline medical workers and people in nursing homes. The two health clinics on the Navajo Nation in Utah opted to work with the state health department instead of the Indian Health Service and will receive around 300 doses of the vaccine in two weeks. Nearly 8,000 doses of the Moderna vaccine is scheduled to arrive on the reservation next week, if the vaccine is approved. — Kate Groetzinger, Bluff
Region
COVID-19 Vaccine And Its Effect On Pregnant Women
After some debate, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advisors said the Pfizer vaccine can go to pregnant or women who are breastfeeding. There isn’t substantial data on how the vaccine affects pregnancy or women who are breastfeeding because they weren’t allowed into trials. However, there are increased risks if a pregnant woman contracts COVID-19. And experts agree that this type of vaccine should not be a problem for this group. — Madelyn Beck, Mountain West News Bureau