WASHINGTON – Health advocates welcomed the reopening of enrollment for Affordable Care Act coverage, saying the opportunity for more people to get or renew their health insurance could be “really good for Arizona.”

The normal period for Americans to sign up for coverage ended Dec. 15, but President Joe Biden called for this special 90-day open enrollment period in response to the ongoing COVID-19 crisis.

The change could open the door to subsidized health insurance for thousands in Arizona, where as many as 900,000 people may not have health insurance, according to Dr. Dan Derksen, director of the University of Arizona Center for Rural Health. Derksen said as many as half of those people could get covered under the ACA.

“This extension of the open enrollment period Is a way that we can get more information out there so that people understand what they might be eligible for, and then get enrolled,” Derksen said Monday, the first day of open enrollment.

Matt Eyles, president and CEO of America’s Health Insurance Plans, praised the decision to reopen the enrollment period as a “timely and targeted” solution that is “exactly what Americans need.”

“Every American deserves access to affordable health coverage and high-quality care, and that is especially true during a pandemic,” Eyles said in a written statement. “We appreciate the Biden administration for providing this additional opportunity for hardworking American families to enroll in coverage for their health and financial security as they continue to fight to overcome the COVID-19 crisis.”

As we approach the anniversary of pandemic shutdowns, Tucson musician Katie Haverly has released a new song to put some wind in our sails. Written in March 2020, “Get Ready” is a surprisingly hopeful track, but avoids sounding cloying thanks to its unique chord structure and frantic shifts in tempo — reflecting a kind of power in the face of unease.

“It was a song to try and project hope and a better future for all of us,” Haverly said. “Get ready, because love is so much more powerful and enduring than fear. We have to believe it to see it.”

The track begins with meditative chimes and Haverly's smooth voice, before kicking into a wild chorus. Her 2020 album Matter landed on the Weekly’s list of best local albums of the year. And if this track is any hint, Haverly’s broadening musical style will lead to greater success when all this misery clears up.

The song was recorded and mixed by Steven Lee Tracy at Saint Cecilia Studios in Tucson, and is currently available on Spotify and Apple Music. 

Pima County residents ages 65 and over will be able to pre-register for COVID-19 vaccine appointments starting 9 a.m., Thursday, the Pima County Health Department announced Tuesday.

Pima County Chief Medical Officer Dr. Francisco Garcia said the announcement comes not because of increased vaccine availability, but to avoid confusion as the new state-run site at the University of Arizona provides vaccines to the 65+ population.

Garcia said the county health department was poised to make the decision to open vaccine appointments to the 65+ crowd next week, but accelerated the announcement so the county’s eligibility requirements will align with the state’s.

“We know that this is a complicated message because, on the one hand, I'm telling you that vaccine supply is restricted. On the other hand, I'm telling you that more people are going to be eligible for that restricted vaccine supply,” Garcia said. “One of the things that we are really, really working hard to mitigate against is the fact that with the opening of the state POD here at the University of Arizona, I am worried that people will start to get confused. And so rather than have different age eligibilities at different locations, we want to have uniform age eligibility across Pima County, even even if it poses some challenges for us.”

Pima County’s vaccine allocation from the state has been cut again, making it even more difficult to reach the populations who need it most.

This week, the county's vaccine supply was decreased to 16,300 doses of Moderna, down from the 17,850 doses of Moderna and Pfizer allocated last week.

The state is now controlling all Pfizer allocations with little insight into how many will be distributed to vaccinators. Additionally, vaccines given to Pima County’s new state-run POD at the University of Arizona are coming off the top of the county’s total allocation.

According to a Feb. 12 memo from County Administrator Chuck Huckelberry, the UA POD will receive 2,000 Moderna vaccines this week.

The county’s vaccination network can supply 8,000 vaccines a day, but doses from the state have averaged 3,600 a day, Huckelberry said.

In order to carefully manage a constrained vaccine supply that will reach the most vulnerable populations first, the county has adopted a new tiered approach as part of its accelerated vaccination plan.

The six tiers outline the priority order for vaccine recipients. Tier one includes assisted living facilities that weren’t enrolled in the federal program administering vaccines through local pharmacies. As of Feb. 12, Huckelberry said 21 of 83 facilities not enrolled in the federal program have had their residents vaccinated by the county.

Tier two represents vulnerable populations in terms of their age, ethnicity and low income. According to Huckelberry’s memo, this includes “communities with the highest rate of COVID-19 infection and mortality, those who live in HUD housing, those who are disabled, and those who live in census tracts with a high social vulnerability.”

With 1,132 new cases reported today, the total number of Arizona’s confirmed novel coronavirus cases hovered just below 800,000 as of Tuesday, Feb. 16, according to the Arizona Department of Health Services.

Pima County, which reported 155 new cases today, has seen 107,213 of the state’s 799,740 confirmed cases.

A total of 14,981 Arizonans have died after contracting COVID-19, including 2,075 deaths in Pima County, according to the Feb. 16 report.

The number of hospitalized COVID cases statewide has declined in recent weeks, with 2,047 coronavirus patients in the hospital as of Feb. 15. That’s fewer than half the number who were hospitalized at the peak of the winter surge, which reached 5,082 on Jan. 11. The summer peak was 3,517, which was set on July 13, 2020. The subsequent lowest number of hospitalized COVID patients was 468, set on Sept. 27, 2020.

A total of 1,175 people visited emergency rooms on Feb. 15 with COVID symptoms, down from the record high of 2,341 set on Tuesday, Dec. 29, 2020. That number had peaked during the summer wave at 2,008 on July 7, 2020; it hit a subsequent low of 653 on Sept. 28, 2020.

A total of 601 COVID-19 patients were in intensive care unit beds on Feb. 15, down from a peak of 1,183 set on Jan. 11. The summer’s record number of patients in ICU beds was 970, set on July 13, 2020. The subsequent low was 114 on Sept. 22, 2020.

How to get a vaccine

Currently, Pima County is providing vaccination shots to people 70 and older as well as educators, first responders and healthcare workers. Those who currently qualify in Pima County’s 1B priority group of eligible vaccine recipients can register for a vaccine at www.pima.gov/covid19vaccineregistration or by calling 520-222-0119.

A state-run vaccination site opening at the University of Arizona will begin appointments on Feb. 18. The new site will follow the state’s current vaccine eligibility, which includes those 65 and older, educators, childcare workers and protective service workers, according to Arizona Department of Health Services Director Dr. Cara Christ.

As the state-run POD, or point of distribution, registrations will go through ADHS’s website. Appointments will begin on Feb. 18, and registration will open at 9 a.m. on Feb 16. Online registration will be available atpodvaccine.azdhs.gov, and those who need assistance can call 1-844-542-8201.

More details here.

Limited supply forces reduction in vaccine appointments

Despite a widening population of eligible vaccine recipients and the addition of a state-run POD at the University of Arizona set to open on Thursday, Pima County’s vaccine allocation from the state has been cut yet again.

Two weeks ago, the county's vaccine supply was decreased to 17,850—a 40% deduction from the previous week. Last week, the doses were cut down by 9% for a total allotment of 16,300.

According to a memo from County Administrator Chuck Huckelberry, the truncated allocation has limited the county’s ability to give first-time doses—many for those 70 and older who became eligible last week—and delayed plans for vaccinations in vulnerable congregate settings.

PHOENIX – In a downtown parking garage, a health care worker, dressed in protective gear, waits for cars to pull up for drive-thru HIV tests. Inside the building, volunteers assemble packages of at-home tests and condoms to be shipped across the state.

Elsewhere in metro Phoenix, a van travels to neighborhoods whose residents may face higher risk of infection to provide regular HIV testing, while doctors and case managers across the area respond to telehealth appointments by phone and Zoom.

Although face-to-face interactions have been the preferred method for testing and treating people for HIV and supporting them in vulnerable moments, the COVID-19 pandemic has forced local health care providers to get creative and adapt.

Such services as Zoom appointments, along with drive-thru, at-home and mobile testing, epitomize this new normal.

Dr. Ann Khalsa, an HIV specialist with more than 30 years of experience, has been part of the shift. She serves as medical director at Valleywise Community Health Center-McDowell, and spends most days on Zoom and phone calls with patients.

Khalsa said that amid COVID-19 – with so many people “hunkered down” and not prioritizing other medical needs – her clinic has seen a 30% decrease in people getting tested for HIV and linked to treatment.

However, some of the changes in delivery of care are helping, she added, and are likely here to stay.

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PHOENIX – Dale Earnhardt, or “The Intimidator” as most fans knew him, was probably the most-feared driver in NASCAR history.

His black No. 3 Chevrolet was almost always running at the front or near the front of the pack on Sundays. Even the asphalt he drove on seemed to be afraid of him.

This is why in 2001, while still at the top of the sport at 49, it shocked the world that a place Earnhardt had mastered, a race track, was where he lost his life.

On Feb. 18, 2001 – Thursday will be the 20th anniversary – Earnhardt was racing hard on the final lap of the Daytona 500 when he crashed and hit the barricade in what appeared to be a routine crash. Instead, he tragically passed away from the severe fracture to the base of his skull and the bruising and bleeding to the brain caused by the impact.

Memories of the driver came fast and furious in the weeks leading up to today’s Daytona 500.

The accident was a major wake-up call to those within NASCAR. Driver safety became a priority. Among the advancements is the Next Gen car, which will be introduced in the 2022 Cup Series season and was tested in Phoenix in 2019.

Additionally, experts outside the sport were consulted.

“I think it was the right thing to do to get outside opinions and have other people looking at the whole situation,” said Richard Childress, the owner of Earnhardt’s team and a good friend of the driver. “As terrible as it was, and we’ll never get over losing Dale Earnhardt, but there’s a lot that came out of it in the safety part going forward. There’s been some horrendous crashes. Austin Dillon’s (2015 Coke Zero 400), Ryan Newman’s (2020 Daytona 500). You go on down the list of crashes and these drivers have walked away because of the safety.”