With COVID-19 in Utah’s wastewater ‘very high,’ experts recommend updated vaccine

A woman squeezes the sample liquid on a test strip while carrying out a COVID-19 rapid self test at home. (Photo by Tang Ming Tung/Getty Images)

Levels of COVID-19 in Utah’s wastewater are “very high,” according to a tracker from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Most of the 35 wastewater monitors from the Utah Department of Health and Human Services, including the majority of those on the Wasatch Front and in southwest Utah are seeing elevated levels of the virus, indicating that more people are getting infected in Utah.

“They’re not the highest we’ve ever seen by any stretch of the imagination, but they are also clearly elevated,” said Nathan LaCross, manager for Utah’s Wastewater Surveillance Program at DHHS.

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The state saw similar elevations of the virus mid-January, which decreased to its lowest point this year in May, according to CDC viral activity levels data .

Salt Lake City, Orem, Spanish Fork, Payson and Hyrum have experienced increasing COVID-19 wastewater levels, while two municipalities — Coalville and Roosevelt — are maintaining low concentration levels.

The virus doesn’t share the same seasonal nature of other respiratory pathogens, such as influenza, LaCross said. The rises and falls of the levels can usually be attributed to the introduction of a variant.

For example, when the Omicron variant started to spread in 2021, COVID-19 wastewater levels quickly went up, LaCross explained. That lasted for a few weeks until levels fell as swiftly as they rose. These levels aren’t near the Omicron numbers. However, currently, there are additional mutations of some variants that make the transmission of the virus easier.

“This isn’t a new development really, in that sense, (but that) doesn’t mean that people should ignore it either,” LaCross said, recommending Utahns take precautions including checking the data in their communities, washing their hands more often and keeping all vaccinations up to date.

The CDC recommends everyone older than 6 months to get an updated 2024-2025 vaccine, which will become available this fall “whether or not they have ever previously been vaccinated with a COVID-19 vaccine,” according to a news release .

“The virus that causes COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, is always changing and protection from COVID-19 vaccines declines over time,” the release reads. “Receiving an updated 2024-2025 COVID-19 vaccine can restore and enhance protection against the virus variants currently responsible for most infections and hospitalizations in the United States.”

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