Tuesday, May 25, 2021
PHOENIX – As Missy Farr-Kaye watched her friend Phil Mickelson master the PGA Championship, the Arizona State women’s golf coach said what everyone was thinking: “He is a fountain of youth right now.”
The legendary lefty and Arizona State alumnus became the oldest golfer to win a major at 50, capturing the PGA Championship Sunday.
It was Mickelson’s sixth major win and first since 2013. With it, not only did he become the oldest golfer to ever win a major but he also joined a prestigious list of golfers to win a major in three different decades.
And it raised an interesting question: Is Mickelson’s success at 50 a sign of things to come for other athletes?
“There are a lot of advantages that accrue over time in sports,” said Jeff Bercovici, author of “Play On: The New Science of Elite Performance at Any Age.” “You acquire a lot of knowledge, and a lot of skill and experience and maturity and emotional control all these things that are advantages to any athlete. The thing is that you’re also acquiring a big disadvantage, which is that your body is getting older. You get slower, you get injured more easily. Historically, the disadvantages have accrued faster than the advantages.
“What we’ve seen, particularly over the last kind of 20ish years, is the science of particularly athletic training but also medicine, surgery, nutrition, recovery, has allowed athletes to slow down the rate at which their bodies age to the point that now we see what happens when the advantages, express themselves more fully than we’ve ever been able to see before.”
PHOENIX – Health care coverage in Arizona under the Affordable Care Act is at its highest level in three years, as enrollment continued to climb in April during a special open enrollment period, according to the latest government data.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services reported that 17,081 Arizonans had selected insurance plans for 2021 from Feb. 15 through April 30. They were just some of the 939,575 Americans who got coverage during that period.
The new enrollments come on top of the 154,504 Arizonans who signed up during last fall’s regular open enrollment for 2021 coverage and the 8.25 million Americans who signed up in the same period.
The special open enrollment period was announced by the Biden administration in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and will continue through Aug. 15. Despite the apparent success of the early going, however, advocates and experts say there are still challenges – particularly for those in underserved communities.
Claudia Maldonado works at Keogh Health Connection, helping people navigate through different insurance marketplaces to find the plan that best fits their needs. The process can be overwhelming, she said.
“When you see that there is the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System (AHCCCS), there’s Arizona’s Children’s Health Insurance Program (KidsCare) and the marketplace, and you’re sitting there kind of like scratching your head saying, ‘Well, which one is for me?’”
Maldonado also shined a light on the importance of not sticking to one specific health care option, stating that the Affordable Care Act extends enrollment for all marketplaces Arizona has to offer.
Monday, May 24, 2021
On Tuesday, eegee's will open a new prototype location in South Tucson that will feature an “eegee-only” drive-thru window. The new location is at the Landing shopping area, 4765 S. Landing Center Dr., near Interstate 19 and Irvington Road.
The new 2,200 square-foot space will feature a full drive-thru with a walk-up order window and garage doors to allow for an indoor/outdoor experience.
For Tuesday's grand opening from 4 to 6 p.m., eegee’s is inviting the public to enjoy food and drinks (including new items) and stock up on the greatly coveted eegee's swag.
“We’re so excited to bring our menu to the residents of South Tucson,” says CEO Ron Petty. “This area has seen tremendous growth and we felt it was the perfect place to debut our new prototype. And while our look and feel has evolved over time, our classic menu items and the service we provide remains the same.”
For more information, visit eegees.com
Here are this week's vaccination sites in Pima County.
For more information, head to the Pima County COVID-19 information site.
If you know of other sites we've missed, please send an email to [email protected].
No appointment needed
Monday, May 23 - Tuesday, May 25
- COPE Community Services, 5401 E. 5th Street, 10 a.m. – 8 p.m.
- Park Place Mall, 5870 E. Broadway Blvd., East Parking lot (east of Park Place Drive), 10 a.m. – 8 p.m.
Monday, May 24
- Palo Verde High School, 1302 S. Avenida Vega, 2 - 7 p.m.
- Shalom Fellowship, 6045 E. 30th St., 3 - 7 p.m.
Thursday, May 27
- Antigone Books, 411 N. Fourth Ave., 6 - 9 p.m.
Thursday, May 27 - Saturday, May 29
- Pima Air & Space Museum, 6000 E. Valencia Road, 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.
- Westgate Shopping Center, Southeast corner of E. Ajo Way and S. Mission Road, 10 a.m. – 8 p.m.
Saturday, May 29
- St. Margaret Mary Alacoque Roman Catholic Church, 801 N. Grande Ave., 8 a.m. - 2 p.m.
- Corpus Christi Catholic Church, 300 N. Tanque Verde Loop Road, 9 a.m. - 1 p.m.
Sunday, May 30
- San Miguel High School/St. Monica Church, 6601 San Fernando Ave., 2 - 7 p.m.
Monday, Wednesday, Friday
- El Pueblo Center, 101 W. Irvington Road, 4 – 8 p.m. - Closing May 28
Monday-Saturday
- Kino Event Center, 2805 E. Ajo Way, 9 a.m.–7 p.m.
Monday-Friday
- Tucson Convention Center, 260 S. Church Ave., 8 a.m.–4 p.m.
- Tucson Medical Center, 7200 E. Tanque Verde Road (Morris K. Udall Center), 8 a.m.–5 p.m. (open to 7 p.m. May 25, June 1)
- Tucson Mall — in former Justice store, 2nd floor between Dillards and Sears, 4500 N. Oracle Road, 11 a.m.-3 p.m.
Monday-Saturday
- State POD-University of Arizona, Indoors: Gittings, 1737 E. University Blvd., 10 a.m.–5 p.m. (closed May 29-31)
Appointment needed
Monday-Friday
- Tucson Mall, 4500 N. Oracle Road, 11 a.m. - 3 p.m., Monday through Friday
Daily
- Foothills Mall — in former Old Navy store, 7401 N. La Cholla Blvd, noon-8 p.m.
The Arizona Department of Health Services is asking health care providers, especially pediatricians, to prioritize vaccinations over the fear of vaccine wastage.
ADHS Director Dr. Cara Christ said they had heard that some providers may be fearful of opening a bottle to pull out a couple of doses when they may not have to use the other doses on the same day. She said while they continue to minimize waste, it should not be at the expense of vaccinating someone.
“In the beginning when vaccine was in very, very short supply and we had high demand, we were very, very careful about using every single dose of vaccine,” said Christ. “If you do have to open a vial to extract just a couple of doses, take that opportunity, get that individual vaccinated because we don't want any missed opportunities for our providers. And while we do want to minimize vaccine wastage, getting people vaccinated and preventing hospitalization and death is very important.”
The state hopes more providers will register to become COVID-19 vaccinators and receive COVID-19 vaccine. To order vaccine, providers would need to become pandemic vaccine providers through the state or a federal program.
As of May 17, eligible health providers can order all types of COVID-19 vaccine directly from the CDC, without an allocation from their local health department, said Christ.
Previously, eligible providers could order only Moderna. With eligible providers able to request an allocation of Pfizer they would be able to administer the vaccine to children 12 to 15. More information on Pima County vaccination spots.
Christ said they anticipated that about 385,000 Arizonans became eligible for Pfizer after the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s approval of the FDA’s emergency use authorization of Pfizer for children 12 to 15.
