ST. GEORGE — Someone driving by the St. George Senior Center Thursday afternoon could have easily mistaken it for a street party. The sounds of Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell singing “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” were heard through the air, while someone on a loudspeaker exclaimed, “If you think you’ll get in trouble for dancing in line, you won’t.” And a few took up that offer.
But this was no party. It was the largest group yet to get vaccinations for COVID-19 in Washington County. More than 3,000 people Thursday were getting either their first or second shots of the Moderna vaccine at what is also known as the St. George Active Life Center, and as far as the local state of the pandemic, there is cause to celebrate.
New infections, hospitalizations and deaths are all down more than 60% across the board in Southern Utah in the last two weeks.
Standing outside the senior center vaccination clinic, one would think the steady stream of people getting vaccinated was a big reason for the quelling of the pandemic. But Southwest Utah Public Health Department spokesperson David Heaton echoes what other health officials say: It’s not as much the introduction of the vaccine as much as people just adhering more to practicing the right measures of physically distancing and wearing face coverings when they can’t.
“It’s maybe some early effects from the vaccine, but I think people have become really good at implementing the precautions,” Heaton said. “They’ve been doing it for a year now. So people know what they’re doing. It’s almost second nature.”
That’s not to negate the effect that vaccines have already had on helping to stop the spread of the virus. With around 89% of long-term care facility residents in the state now fully inoculated according to the Utah Department of Health, nursing home outbreaks locally have gone down from more than 12 just a week ago to four in Washington County and two in Iron County.
And deaths and hospitalizations among those over 65 has seen a large drop in the last two weeks, with the health department reporting that 49% of residents 70 and over in the state have now received at least their first shot of the vaccine.
Still, in response to a question from St. George News, Utah Department of Health lead epidemiologist Dr. Angela Dunn said there is still a ways to go before the 70% or more of the state’s population that needs to be vaccinated to achieve herd immunity. And in the meantime, it is the preventative measures that are playing a leading role in saving the day.
“We are seeing evidence that vaccine is decreasing spread among medical workers and starting to see it among long-term care, but it really is more people adhering to the right behaviors,” Dunn said.
A month ago at this time, Southern Utah was seeing more than 300 new COVID-19 infections per day, an average of four deaths per day locally and more than 70 local residents with the virus helping to fill St. George Regional Medical Center beyond capacity.
Now, the daily rate of new cases in Southern Utah is below 100 and the number of active cases, which were more than 8,000 a month ago, are below 2,200. Deaths are also down to about one per day locally. While a pandemic-high of 67 Southern Utahns died in January from the disease, there have been a total of eight deaths 11 days into February.
And all of this has brought a welcome relief to the local hospitals.
At the start of this week, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, St. George Regional Hospital was at 79% capacity and for the first time since October is below capacity for its intensive care unit.
Coming out for his weekly COVID-19 press conference on Thursday, Gov. Spencer Cox couldn’t hide the optimistic smile on his face.
“We’ve really felt the shift,” Cox said. “It feels like we’re in the fourth quarter of the pandemic and we have a lead for the first time.”
Vaccinations entering new phase locally
As vaccine supplies are steadily increasing and more locations like chain store pharmacies are coming online, the Monday morning scramble for reservation slots to receive the vaccine may now be a thing of the past.
With the exception of some slots in Garfield, Kane and Beaver counties, all of the remaining vaccine slots for February are full.
However, as more supply will be arriving in the coming weeks there could still be more slots added for February. Heaton said as those additional slots come online, they will be added to the Southwest Utah Public Health Department’s website at this link, and people can check on a daily basis to see if new slots have opened up.
Heaton also said as supply has been promised to nearly quadruple in the coming weeks, the local health department is planning to hold larger vaccination clinics that will be of the drive-up variety at a larger site like the fairgrounds at Legacy Park in Hurricane that will not require a reservation.
Another big change will come on March 1, when vaccinations will open up to everyone ages 65 and over and also to people with certain high-risk health conditions. The governor said Thursday that the state is on pace for the majority of the general public to have access to the vaccine by May.
If Thursday’s clinic in St. George is any indication, the local health department appears to have a system down.
But with music playing and a systematic way of administering the vaccine, Cindy Curlis of Santa Clara said the hardest part of the whole process was waiting weeks to find an open reservation slot online.
“It was more calming. It wasn’t so sterilized,” Curlis said, adding that she now has a sense of relief now that she is on her way toward being immune to COVID-19. “I know my grandkids are glad.”
For most getting their vaccines Thursday, half of the 30-minute process consisted of the required 15 minutes to wait after the shot to make sure there are no adverse side effects.
Outside, people waited about five minutes to await their appointment time and check in. Then once inside, they sat in a large recreation room for another five minutes with 16 stations with two nurses each ready to administer the vaccines, both holding up a flag to indicate they were ready for another person to administer the vaccine. The injection itself was just a matter of an alcohol-swab rub and a quick injection.
Meanwhile, in another room, an assembly line of medical workers were continually loading syringes with vials of the Moderna vaccine and placing the syringes in boxes marked “reg flu” – remnants of when the health department used a flu shot “shootout” in September as a dry run for the COVID-19 vaccine clinics.
Cliff and Carol Biggs of Washington City came out holding their vaccination cards, which reminded Cliff of the yellow vaccination cards he used to have to carry when he traveled around the world in his younger days.
But for the married couple, the best part about getting vaccinated was that they did it together.
“We do most everything together anyway, so it worked out perfect for us,” Cliff Biggs said.
Getting the COVID-19 vaccine
- Those who can currently get first dose of the vaccine: Everyone ages 70 and over; K-12 teachers and staff; those that work in nonhospital health care facilities (those in clinics, pharmacies, dentists or other medical offices); and first responders, including law enforcement, firefighters and EMTs.
- Those who can receive the second dose: Those who received their first injection 28 days or more before the appointment time.
- Those who can get first dose of the vaccine as of March 1: Everyone ages 65 and over as well as those with the following health conditions – Transplant recipients, having had certain cancers, immunocompromised state including HIV, severe kidney disease, uncontrolled diabetes, obese with a body mass index greater than 40, hepatitis, chronic heart disease, but not high blood pressure, lung disease besides asthma, downs syndrome or cerebral palsy, those who have had strokes or dementia, sickle-cell anemia.
- Must register in advance online for an appointment time.
- Must have a personal ID, employment ID (if necessary) and wear a short-sleeve shirt at appointment.
- Proof of residency is required. Part-time residents can get vaccinated with proof of residency.
- Vaccines are free of charge.
- Those without email addresses or unable to make reservations online can get help at a specialized hotline at 435-986-2549.
Washington County:
Where: Southwest Utah Public Health Department St. George office, 620 S. 400 East, 2nd Floor Conference Room, St. George and Active Life Center, 245 N. 200 West, St George
Reservations: Click to register ALL FEBRUARY SLOTS FULL
Iron County:
Where: Southwest Utah Public Health Department Cedar City office, 260 DL Sargent Drive, Cedar City.
Reservations: Click to register ALL FEBRUARY SLOTS FULL
Kane County:
Where: Southwest Utah Public Health Department Kanab office, 445 N. Main St., Kanab.
Reservations: Call (435) 644-4994.
Garfield County:
Where: Southwest Utah Public Health Department Panguitch office, 601 Center St. Panguitch.
Reservations: Click to register
Beaver County:
Where: Southwest Utah Public Health Department Beaver Office, 75 1175 North, Beaver.
Reservations: Click to register
Smith’s Food and Drug:
Where: 20 N. Bluff St. and 565 S. Mall Drive in St. George and 633 S. Main St. in Cedar City.
Reservations: Click to register
Walmart:
Where: 625 W. Telegraph St. in Washington City and 1330 S. Providence Center Dr. in Cedar City.
Reservations: Click to register
COVID-19 information resources
St. George News has made every effort to ensure the information in this story is accurate at the time it was written. However, as the situation and science surrounding the coronavirus continues to evolve, it’s possible that some data has changed.
Check the resources below for up-to-date information and resources.
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
- World Health Organization
- Utah Department of Health
- Safe Southern Utah
- Información sobre coronavirus en español
- To file complaint about non-compliance with mask mandate
- Intermountain Healthcare
- To Donate and Volunteer to Help
COVID-19 information resources
St. George News has made every effort to ensure the information in this story is accurate at the time it was written. However, as the situation and science surrounding the coronavirus continues to evolve, it’s possible that some data has changed.
Check the resources below for up-to-date information and resources.
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
- World Health Organization
- Utah Department of Health
- Safe Southern Utah
- Información sobre coronavirus en español
- To file complaint about non-compliance with mask mandate
- Intermountain Healthcare
- To Donate and Volunteer to Help
Southern Utah coronavirus count (as of Feb. 11, 2020, seven-day average in parentheses)
Positive COVID-19 tests: 25,711 (86.3 new infections per day in seven days, falling since Jan. 28)
- Note: County by county numbers are as of Feb. 10, 2021
- Washington County: 19,437 (64.6 per day, falling)
- Iron County: 4,750 (19.9 per day, falling)
- Kane County: 431 (1.6 per day, falling)
- Garfield County: 404 (1.4 per day, falling)
- Beaver County: 609 (4.1 per day, rising)
New infections for major Southern Utah cities (numbers released ahead of Southern Utah numbers):
- St. George: 25 (falling)
- Washington City: 5 (falling)
- Hurricane/LaVerkin: 15 (falling)
- Ivins City/Santa Clara: 5 (falling)
- Cedar City: 18 (falling)
Deaths: 212 (0.6 per day, falling)
- Washington County: 170
- Iron County: 26
- Garfield County: 9
- Kane County: 3
- Beaver County: 4
Hospitalized: 34 (falling)
Active cases: 2,179 (falling)
Current Utah seven-day average: 1,049 (falling)
Vaccines shipped to Southern Utah: 40,750
Number of initial vaccine injections in Southern Utah: 24,849
Number of fully vaccinated in Southern Utah: 9,173
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