If you have a moderately or severely weakened immune system, it's more important than ever to have a COVID-19 action plan. The Food and Drug Administration recently announced that the therapeutic agent EVUSHELD is not currently authorized for emergency use in the U.S. This monoclonal antibody had been prescribed to people with moderately to severely [...]
It's important for everyone to be up to date on COVID-19 vaccination. But all evidence points to an even greater need for older Arizonans to get the lifesaving protection offered by the current bivalent booster, which targets Omicron. COVID-19 vaccines are safe, highly effective, widely available, and free. That's one reason why we've launched a [...]
As you’re preparing for the holidays, now is a great time to add COVID-19 and influenza vaccinations to your to-do list. It takes at least two weeks to build antibody protection after vaccination. Getting your Omicron COVID-19 booster and flu shot now — and you can get both in one visit — means your immune [...]
In early 2021, Governor Doug Ducey called on ADHS to open a first-of-its-kind, 24-hour COVID-19 mass-vaccination site at State Farm Stadium in Glendale. The timeline was bold, even audacious: Have the site up and running in less than a week. But with public safety and health top priorities throughout his tenure, the governor pointed to [...]
Children ages 5 and older may now receive the updated COVID-19 vaccine boosters targeting Omicron subvariants BA.4 and BA.5 as well as the original coronavirus. This is important news for parents of kids in this age group who are vaccinated, as this bivalent booster includes protection against the highly transmissible and immune-evading variants that dominate [...]
Nearly 200,000 Arizonans have received new COVID-19 boosters designed to guard against current Omicron subvariants that have dominated around the country. Even with millions in our state fully vaccinated, that number needs to be much, much higher to protect our most vulnerable against severe outcomes. There has been considerable news coverage nationally about lower-than-hoped-for uptake [...]
Is the COVID-19 pandemic over? That question is getting a lot of attention this week, and it's natural to wonder where ADHS stands. In Arizona, however, we look past terminology to the impact of a virus on the health and wellness of our residents. There's no question that COVID-19 remains a state, national, and global [...]
“Show me the data.” That’s a phrase I hear quite a bit from ADHS epidemiologists, and with good reason: Numbers may be a little difficult to follow sometimes, but they tell a story and they don’t lie. That’s why our epidemiologists update a report every month showing COVID-19 outcomes by vaccination status, including the update [...]
COVID-19 has been especially dangerous for older people throughout the pandemic, but data on the current increase in cases provides even more reason for those in this age group to make sure their vaccines are up to date. Compared to the winter surge driven by the Omicron variant, Arizona has since February seen a greater [...]
Community levels from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have moved up and down in many Arizona counties over the past few weeks. The latest CDC update has 10 counties, including Maricopa, with high COVID-19 community levels. This means masks are recommended for public indoor settings. The other counties with high COVID-19 community [...]
