It’s impossible to mark National Public Health Week without acknowledging the efforts of the ADHS staff during the COVID-19 pandemic. Over the past 27 months, hundreds of public health professionals across all ADHS programs have spent more than 250,000 hours supporting our health emergency operations center, our partners, and all of Arizona. Here are just [...]
The past two years have shown us that public health is critical. That’s one reason why we at ADHS are excited to mark National Public Health Week and to have Governor Doug Ducey commemorate this week by proclamation. Public health is more than a single topic; it’s countless issues and practices that help every American [...]
Governor Ducey, at the recommendation of ADHS, has terminated the state’s COVID-19 Declaration of Emergency. His announcement makes clear, however, that public health’s response to COVID-19 will continue. Jessica Rigler, our assistant director for public health preparedness, put it this way during a recent ADHS virtual town hall on COVID-19 vaccines for children: “Public health [...]
Following yesterday’s authorization of a second COVID-19 booster dose for ages 50 and older and those with weakened immune systems, new data shows just how much of a difference a booster dose makes. During February, compared to individuals who were fully vaccinated with a booster, unvaccinated people ages 18 and older had: 4.9 times the [...]
Today, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) authorized a second booster dose for those ages 50 and older. They also authorized a second booster for those 12 and older who have weakened immune systems. Vaccines are extremely effective at protecting against severe COVID-19 outcomes, but evidence suggests [...]
The past two years have put public health preparedness on center stage as our country grapples with the ongoing pandemic. All the while, we have remained vigilant and prepared for the next unknown challenge facing communities across our state. Public health partners across Arizona have risen to the occasion and have done amazing work responding [...]
Few places are as hot during the long, sizzling summer than the Sonoran Desert in Arizona. That heat has an impact on our health; heat-related issues send nearly 3,000 people to an emergency room each year. A $2 million federal grant to the Arizona Department of Health Services’ Extreme Weather and Public Health Program will [...]
As we offer our first weekly COVID-19 Data Dashboard update, showing a continuing decline in cases and other metrics, I want to call attention to some critically important information in two reports linked atop the dashboard: Booster doses dramatically increase protection against COVID-19, including the Omicron variant. Our twice-monthly report on COVID-19 outcomes by vaccination [...]
ADHS has consistently followed Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidance throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, and today’s updated CDC recommendations on mask use are no exception. The CDC’s mask recommendations now vary according to a community level that considers COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents and COVID-19’s impact on the local healthcare system. The COVID-19 [...]
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has given full approval to the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine for use in those ages 18 and older. Moderna joins the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, which the FDA gave full approval to last August for use in ages 16 and older. Ages 5 to 15 are eligible for the Pfizer vaccine under [...]
