I hope everyone has a happy Fourth of July weekend. Those of us in public health have some tips on how to make your celebrations safe while you’re enjoying time with family and friends. COVID-19 Safety Please be aware when enjoying time with others that COVID-19 remains active in our communities. Variants such as Delta (B.1.617.2) [...]
We continue to educate: Vaccines are highly effective at preventing serious illness and death from COVID-19. The numbers continue to demonstrate this, including a look at cases we shared in a release earlier this week as Arizona reached 3 million people fully vaccinated. Arizona reported 16,910 total COVID-19 cases during May. Out of those, we [...]
This week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) classified the so-called Delta variant of COVID-19 — B.1.617.2 — as a variant of concern. This is one of the variants behind India’s devastating outbreaks, and it has become the dominant strain in the United Kingdom. Its shift from a variant of interest reflects the [...]
Today brings more encouraging news for those fully vaccinated against COVID-19 -- and another reason for everyone else to get their shot. New guidance from U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says fully vaccinated people can resume activities indoors as well as outdoors without wearing a mask or physically distancing. The CDC notes, [...]
Since mid-December, when the first Pfizer vaccines reached Arizona, ADHS has been working with our local county health departments and tribes to get the COVID-19 vaccine distributed to vulnerable Arizonans as quickly as possible. Arizonans living in long-term care facilities and those 65 years of age and older were prioritized first for vaccination because of [...]
Since mid-December, when the first Pfizer vaccines reached Arizona, ADHS has been working with our local county health departments and tribes to get the COVID-19 vaccine distributed to vulnerable Arizonans as quickly as possible. To further this goal, Arizona recently adopted a hybrid model prioritizing those at highest risk due to age and our frontline [...]
Over the past few months, you may have heard me call COVID-19 vaccines the light at the end of the tunnel. As more and more Arizonans get the Pfizer, Moderna, or Johnson & Johnson/Janssen vaccines, we will start to see life returning to normal. That light is getting brighter by the day. New guidance released [...]
Earlier this week, State Farm Stadium hosted President Biden and Vice President Harris for a virtual tour of our vaccination site. Arizona’s state-operated vaccination sites have been identified as a national model. Since Jan. 11, the two state-operated sites have accounted for more than 20% of the total vaccines administered to date, statewide. In addition, [...]
This week, Arizona celebrated the milestone of more than 1 million doses of vaccine administered by the state, counties and health care providers. While this is a significant achievement, vaccination sites have capacity to vaccinate even more Arizonans if additional vaccine doses are made available by federal partners. Since Arizona is a “home rule” state [...]
On Monday I had the honor of taking President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris on a virtual tour of our State Farm Stadium vaccination site in Glendale. During the tour, the vice president raised an issue that many people share. Here’s a lightly edited version of our exchange: THE VICE PRESIDENT: Hi, Doctor. [...]
