Omicron, our hospitals, and the need for vaccination and boosters
Like many of you, I remain concerned about how the extraordinarily contagious Omicron variant may affect our healthcare system. Arizona’s hospitals are already strained by COVID-19 patients, the vast majority of whom are unvaccinated. Here are some things on my mind as we continue learning about this fast-spreading variant: Omicron is likely to cause more breakthrough infections in vaccinated people [...]
Dashboard numbers temporarily affected by the holiday
Cases in today’s COVID-19 data dashboard update are lower than they’d ordinarily be because of the Christmas holiday. That also means we can expect to see higher numbers of cases added in the coming days as the dashboard catches up. We take pride in having a dashboard that keeps Arizonans apprised of COVID-19 in our state. Major holidays are a [...]
Influencers are essential to encouraging COVID-19 vaccination; you can be one too
The importance of influencers can’t be overstated when it comes to encouraging people to protect themselves from COVID-19. That’s why we were so pleased to share on our social media accounts word that former President Donald Trump says he received his booster dose. The other living former presidents have encouraged vaccination, and President Joe Biden received his booster dose live [...]
CDC: If you received the J&J shot, get boosted with Moderna or Pfizer
If you are among the approximately 321,000 people in Arizona who received the one-shot Johnson & Johnson/Janssen COVID-19 vaccine, it’s natural to have questions about the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) “expressing a clinical preference” for the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines over the one you received. The CDC notes that this preference for the two available mRNA vaccines [...]
Data on COVID-19 allows Arizonans to understand this invisible enemy
In a public health emergency, as with any other battle, it’s critical to have the best, most accurate information. That’s why ADHS has invested considerable staff time and resources during the pandemic to gathering, synthesizing, and presenting data critical to understanding what COVID-19 is up to. Having this data allows public health professionals, healthcare providers, and the public to know [...]
Today marks one year since the first COVID-19 vaccine doses reached Arizona
One year ago today, Governor Ducey announced that Arizona had received its first doses of COVID-19 vaccine. With safe, free, and highly effective COVID-19 vaccines readily available these days at retail pharmacies, doctors’ offices, and community clinics, it seems long, long ago when the vaccine supply was extremely limited and the first doses were reserved for frontline healthcare workers. On [...]