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Booster shots significantly decrease Utahns chances of dying of COVID-19, the Utah Department of Health reported on Thursday.
UDOH’s analysis showed that in the past four weeks, unvaccinated Utahns who fell ill were 5.7 times as likely to die of COVID-19 as vaccinated people — and 17.4 times more likely to die than people who had been vaccinated and boosted.
The unvaccinated are also 2.4 times more likely to be hospitalized than the fully vaccinated, and 6.5 times more likely than the vaccinated and boosted.
And the unvaccinated are twice as likely to test positive for COVID-19, versus 2.5 times more likely than the fully vaccinated and boosted.
According to state data, 60.9% of Utahns were fully vaccinated as of Thursday. However, just 26.6% of all Utahns have received a booster dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.
The number of new cases of COVID-19 reported in Utah continues to be a fraction of what it was a few weeks ago, but the number of deaths continues to rise. On Thursday, the Utah Department of Health reported five more deaths. That brings the total so far in February to 279 — 6.3% of the total of 4,397 since the first death in Utah was reported 23 months ago on March 22, 2020.
There have been 334 deaths in the past month — 7.6% of the total.
The department also reported 627 new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, the seventh day in a row that the reported case count has been below 1,000.
After declining steadily for the past couple of weeks, the number of Utahns hospitalized with COVID-19 rose by 37 in the past day to 395. There are 102 people with COVID-19 hospitalized in Utah intensive care units, an increase of 10 in the past day.
ICUs in the state’s larger “referral” hospitals were at 79.8% capacity, lower than the 85% threshold that hospital administrators have said is necessary to leave room for unpredictable staffing levels, new patients and availability of specialized equipment and personnel.
ICUs in those larger hospitals had surpassed 85% occupancy almost continuously since late August, but numbers dropped below that threshold last week. Overall, 75.4% of ICU beds across the state are filled, and 19.6% of ICU patients were hospitalized with COVID-19
Find where to get vaccinated at coronavirus.utah.gov/vaccine-distribution. Find where to get tested at coronavirus.utah.gov/utah-covid-19-testing-locations.
Breakdown of updated figures
Vaccine doses administered in the past day/total doses administered • 3,155 / 4,935,407.
Number of Utahns fully vaccinated • 1,979,920 — 60.9% of Utah’s total population. That is an increase of 944 in the past day.
Cases reported during the past day • 627.
Vaccination status • Health officials do not immediately have or release the vaccination status of individuals who test positive, who are hospitalized or who die. They do calculate the overall risk ratios of these outcomes depending on vaccination status, which is listed below.
Tests reported in the past day • A total of 10,745 people were tested.
Deaths reported in the past day • Five.
All the deaths occurred in Salt Lake County — two men between the ages of 65-84, and two men and a woman 85-plus.
Hospitalizations reported in the past day • 395. That is 37 more than reported on Wednesday. Of those currently hospitalized, 92 are in intensive care, three more than reported on Wednesday. And 42% of patients in ICUs are being treated for COVID-19.
Percentage of positive tests • Under the state’s original method, the rate was 14.4% in the past day. That is lower than the seven-day average of 19.3%.
The state’s new method counts all test results, including repeated tests of the same individual. Thursday’s rate was 5.8%, lower than the seven-day average of 11.4%.
[Read more: Utah is changing how it measures the rate of positive COVID-19 tests. Here’s what that means.]
Totals to date • 921,531 cases; 4.397 deaths; 33,073 hospitalizations; 9,200,328 tests administered.
