Data suggests no vaccinated people have been infected locally

Despite Grand County having the highest number of COVID-19 cases in the state per capita, the director of the area’s health department said he is “not concerned at this time” about the pattern.

Some of the mitigating factors that Southeast Utah Health Department Director Brady Bradford cited in a report Tuesday were that the county’s overall vaccination rate is high, that no vaccinated person has become infected as far as he is aware, and that the cases in Grand have tended to be less severe.

Although Grand has the highest case rate per capita in the state, the rate has not risen recently; it has stayed basically flat for the last few months, according to case rate data.

According to data from the state, none of the infections since vaccinations have started have occurred in vaccinated people. Bradford said told the Grand County Commission during the body’s regular meeting Tuesday night, April 20 that the information was “very important to know.”

Since the state rather than the local health department handles the data Bradford cited, he said that it was possible some information was missing. To the best of his knowledge, though, it is complete.

Grand currently has a high rate of vaccination compared to its neighbors. As of Wednesday, 30.4% of people in Grand County are fully vaccinated, and 48.6% have at least one dose. Carbon and Emery are each below 25% and 35% on those measures, respectively.

However, according to Bradford, Moab’s older population is not as well vaccinated as the other counties. He said that nearly 90% of people 65 or older in Carbon and Emery are vaccinated while that figure is approaching 70% in Grand.

Bradford said “we do see tourism bringing in cases” to Grand County. On the other side, he said that the cases in Grand have generally been less severe than elsewhere in the state.

Grand’s case rate per 100,000 is highest in the state right now stayed steady, not increasing

cases are not vaccinated people, based on state data, which is “one step away” from the health department

“From my point of view, certainly [the health department is] paying attention but not alarmed at this point,” Bradford said in closing.