Image supplied, Weber-Morgan Health Department

OGDEN — Weber-Morgan Health Department officials have been fielding queries about getting a fourth COVID-19 vaccine dose, one additional beyond two primary shots and booster for those who have received the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines.

“We’re getting calls and questions,” said Lori Buttars, the department spokeswoman.

But Brian Cowan, the executive director of the department, said that option isn’t available to just anyone. “It’s not available to the general public,” he said.

Those wondering if they ought to get a fourth shot should seek out medical advice. “Mostly we’re asking them to speak to their physician and see if they can get it from their clinic or a pharmacy associated with their clinic,” Buttars said.

More specifically, those aged 5 and up “who are moderately or severely immunocompromised” should get a fourth shot, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in guidelines updated earlier this month. The CDC said those who fit the bill should get a third primary shot and then, after that, a booster, actually the third shot for most others getting the full vaccine regimen.

Tim Vandenack, Standard-Examiner

The pool who ought to get the fourth shot is very narrow. CDC guidelines says those considered moderately or severely immunocompromised include people getting cancer treatment for tumors or cancers of the blood and those taking immunosuppressants after an organ transplant as a safeguard against organ rejection.

Meantime, after a huge spike in COVID-19 cases brought on by the spread of the omicron variant, things appear to be getting better, Cowan said. The number of positive COVID-19 cases in January totaled 18,117 in Weber and Morgan counties, a huge leap from 3,446 last December and the prior monthly high of 7,241 registered in December 2020, according to department figures.

But Cowan told Weber County commissioners Monday in his weekly report to them that the number of new cases in the surge appears to have hit its peak. “I think we’re comfortable saying we’ve plateaued and we’ve entered a downward trend,” he said, echoing remarks last week.

The seven-day average of cases — the number of daily cases averaged over a rolling seven-day period — is heading down. Likewise, the caseload in Weber County schools is easing.

Hospitals are still experiencing “steady numbers” of COVID-19 patients, but the numbers in intensive-care units are declining, at least a little, Cowan said.

Information on where to get vaccinated or tested for COVID-19 is available online via coronavirus.utah.gov, run by the Utah Department of Health. Information specific to vaccinations is available at vaccinate.utah.gov.

Buttars noted COVID-19 vaccination clinics are to be held each Monday and Wednesday through March 14 at Weber State University’s Community Education Center, 2605 Monroe Blvd. in Ogden, currently scheduled to go from noon to 7 p.m. each day.

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