DHHS News

CDC expands recommendations for use of bivalent COVID-19 booster

Salt Lake City—Today, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) expanded recommendations for the use of the COVID-19 bivalent vaccine for children as young as 6 months of age. ...
Last updated: December 9, 2022

Respiratory illness is increasing in Utah

Now is the time to get your flu and COVID-19 shot Salt Lake City—Hospitals across the country are experiencing an increase in very sick patients from respiratory illnesses like flu...
Last updated: November 15, 2022

First human case of West Nile virus confirmed in Utah for 2022

Salt Lake City—Public health officials confirmed the first positive human case of West Nile virus (WNV) in Weber Morgan Health District about a month after WNV was found in mosquitoes...
Last updated: November 15, 2022

CDC recommends use of bivalent COVID-19 booster

(Salt Lake City, UT) – The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued recommendations for use of the Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 bivalent vaccines to help protect Americans from...
Last updated: November 15, 2022

Media contacts

For media inquiries, contact our on-call Public Information Officers (PIO) at:

Joe Dougherty, director of communications

News releases and media statements

Spanish news releases and media statements

We strive to provide all news releases and media statements in Spanish. Our language access team can provide translation services by contacting them at languageaccess.utah.gov.  

Our graphic and writing standards

Our agency name is the Utah Department of Health and Human Services. Use DHHS if an acronym is needed. 

  • DHHS graphic standards—This guide outlines how to use our logo, colors, fonts, and imagery in printed and electronic media. 
  • DHHS logos 
  • DHHS writing style guide—This guide creates clear and consistent language and tone across all written products, both internal and external to our agency.

Media guides and safe messaging

How we talk about suicide, mental health, and traumatic events matters. When we follow safe messaging guidelines, we contribute to a hopeful narrative about triumph over adversity. We communicate that support is available. Safe messaging promotes resiliency, encourages help-seeking, publicizes prevention successes, and encourages actions to help prevent suicide. 

When writing about suicide, mental health, or traumatic events follow safe messaging guidelines. Here are some of our favorite resources.