COVID-19 update: Utah distribution estimates change due to vaccine mix.Explain the new stock in the UK

Salt Lake City — Utah is expected to receive about 32,000 COVID-19 (new coronavirus infection) (# If there is no character limit, add parentheses when it first appears Weekly vaccinations to end 2020, following a “misunderstanding” between the federal government and vaccinated states, according to a state health bureau spokesperson.

The state has already received 25,000 doses, according to the latest information from the Utah Department of Health on Monday.New weekly quotes from Utah Initially expected 154,000 vaccinations By the end of December.

Utah was one of the states that reported late last week that the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine was not receiving as much vaccine as estimated in the first week after it was approved by federal regulators. Army General Gustav Perna apologized for his misrepresentation over the weekend, calling the initial estimate of the vaccine a “misunderstanding.” Associated Press reported..

According to AP, “I’m the one who approved the forecast sheet. I’m the one who approved the assignment,” Perna said during a telephone briefing with the reporter. “There is no problem with the process. There is no problem with the Pfizer vaccine. There is no problem with the Modana vaccine.”

Currently, distribution snuffs seem to have changed the number of vaccines Utah will receive by the end of the year, Moderna vaccine Arrived in the state. A spokesman for the Department of Health told KSL.com on Tuesday that Utah officials are currently expecting 16,000 Pfizer vaccines and an additional 16,000 Moderna vaccines each week. If that estimate is maintained, it indicates less than 100,000 doses distributed to Utah by the end of the year.

It remains unclear how the adjusted numbers will affect the predicted timeline for when certain groups, such as caregiver residents and teachers, will be granted access to the vaccine.

Vaccine destination

It’s been a week since then Utah Medical Facility Starts Immunizing Frontline Workers.. Shortly after it started Utah Health Department Now Offers Statistics About COVID-19 vaccination in the state.

About 6,520 people are already managed in the state, Monday COVID-19 update now.. This data may seem less exciting as it only reflects hospital staff at this time, but when the first five hospitals in the state received the vaccine and the next 30 It shows that the gap with the medical facility was much smaller than originally thought.

Health Department, Estimated in November The gap can be as long as two weeks, and within the first week of the arrival of the vaccine, all health except San Juan and Tri (Daggett, Duchen, Uintah) It was reported that some vaccines were given in the district. The first five hospitals covered only three of the 13 districts.

Not surprisingly, Salt Lake County, the health district with the most employees in health care facilities, was receiving the most vaccines as of Monday afternoon. According to the Ministry of Health, 3,698 vaccines have been given, accounting for about 57% of all vaccines given so far.

Understand the new UK COVID-19 strain

One of the recent international stories has attracted attention among researchers around the world, including Utah.

British health officials say that one new variant of the new coronavirus in the country is spreading more rapidly than the original strain that stands out there, indicating a mutation. This strain, known as B.1.1.7, was first recorded in September and accounted for about a quarter of all cases by mid-November. Science magazine reported.. By the beginning of last week, it had jumped to 60% in London. Scientists say this could mean that the mutation is 70% more contagious than the previous dominant strain.

As the New York Times pointed out, Prime Minister Boris Johnson has tightened regulations in London and many parts of southeast London to stop the epidemic of coronavirus strains. As a result of the spread of the mutation, some European countries have also banned travel from the United Kingdom.

It is worth noting that experts pointed out that SARS-CoV-2, which causes COVID-19, has already been mutated in various strains very early in the pandemic. The bigger problem is whether the new strain in the UK is more deadly or disrupts the COVID-19 vaccine effort, especially if it is found elsewhere in the world.

So far, researchers say they don’t think it will. In an interview with KSLTV on MondayDr. Sankar Swaminathan, head of the infectious disease department at the University of Utah, explained that changes have occurred in the spike proteins that the virus uses to invade human cells. He said there was no evidence to convince experts that it was fatal or to prevent the vaccination efforts already underway in the UK.

He pointed out that the vaccine helps to produce antibodies in different parts of the spike protein. Therefore, when someone is vaccinated, their immune system provides multiple defenses against the coronavirus spelomer, even if some of them are mutated.

“Although it is possible for the virus to mutate and alter its peplomer, it will be very difficult to completely alter it so that the vaccine does not yet elicit useful antibodies,” Swaminasan said.

Dr. Vineet Menachery, a coronavirus expert at the University of Texas School of Medicine, also said that new mutations in the UK are unlikely to destroy the two available COVID-19 vaccines. During an interview with NPR on Monday.

Menachery told the press that the virus would need years of dramatic mutations to form before it could slip through the vaccine. This is a potential long-term concern, but it is arguably not a short-term issue that would ruin the ongoing vaccination efforts.

“The developed vaccine is actually produced and produces a wide range of responses, so the vaccine uses the immune system to target multiple parts of the virus,” he said. “Therefore, in this case, one or two parts may be different, but we are using a vaccine to target multiple parts. Therefore, the virus overcomes it in a short time like us. It’s very difficult. I’m talking here. “

Swaminasan should not stop public health authorities from focusing to administer enough vaccines to stop the spread of COVID-19, while mutations could become the new dominant strain Added.

Contribution: Jed Boal, KSL TV

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