Friday, February 12, 2021
PHOENIX – A U.S.-Mexico partnership could aid the long-term recovery of the endangered Mexican wolf, a subspecies of the North American gray wolf, and its eventual removal from the U.S. endangered species list, according to a new study.
In a peer-reviewed study published Jan. 21, researchers from several universities in Mexico, the University of Arizona and wildlife officials found that a suitable habitat exists in the southwestern U.S. and the Occidental and Oriental ranges of the Sierra Madre in northern Mexico where Mexican wolves can be restored to their “historical ecological role” in the wild.
The Mexican wolf population – formerly known as the Mexican gray wolf and found in parts of Arizona, New Mexico and northern Mexico – was nearly exterminated from the wild in the early 1970s, and Arizona wildlife officials agree that recovery of this “keystone species” requires coordination.
In 1998, the first four Mexican wolves were reintroduced into the Arizona wild through a cooperative effort with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the New Mexico Game and Fish Department and the U.S. Forest Service. Today, Arizona has nearly 20 times that number of wolves living in the wild, and dozens more roam across the state line in New Mexico.
“Let’s look at the overall program, not just the U.S. program, not just the Arizona program,” said Jim deVos, assistant director for wildlife management at the Arizona Game & Fish Department. “Let’s look at the true recovery of the Mexican wolf and reestablish it as a component of biodiversity.”
To determine suitable habitat, the study combined data from multiple algorithms to calculate potential risk-factors, prey populations and environmental variables, which the scientists and wildlife officials called an improvement on simpler earlier attempts.
Wednesday, February 10, 2021
WASHINGTON – Tobacco use is the leading cause of preventable death in the U.S. but two recent reports say Arizona needs to do more to help people break free from using tobacco products.
“We certainly need a lot more resources here in Arizona to help people quit smoking,” said JoAnna Strother, senior director of advocacy for the American Lung Association, one of two organizations, along with Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, to grade the state’s actions.
The American Lung Association’s annual “State of Tobacco Control” report for 2021 gave Arizona a failing grade in three of five policies it looks at – the state’s tobacco taxes, its limits on flavored tobacco products and its funding for tobacco prevention and cessation programs.
The state got a D for access to tobacco cessation programs and an A for its restrictions on smoking in public spaces.
Arizona was not alone in its troubling grades. A third or more of states got an F for their tobacco taxes, access to prevention programs and limits on flavored tobacco products, while Arizona was one of 23 states with an A for public-smoking restrictions.
The state did relatively well in the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids report, which ranked Arizona 15th overall for the amount of money it is spending from the 1998 tobacco settlement on anti-tobacco programs.
Tuesday, February 9, 2021
At the Pima County superintendent’s office, the windows that once revealed ordinary office space are now adorned with photos of educators bearing cheerful eyes behind their masks and holding up paper cards showing one of the first signs of hope in a year-long pandemic.
Matt Stamp, the communications director for the superintendent’s office, came up with the idea for teachers to submit photos showing their COVID-19 vaccination cards and to publicly display them on the office windows.
“There were a lot of eager teachers ready to get vaccinated, and so we were seeing a lot of frustration. Then across my own personal timelines on social media, I was starting to see educator friends post their vaccine photos, and just the smiles on their faces,” Stamp said. “You could just tell how proud they were, and something just flipped in my brain and said, this is important. We need to change the narrative here of the frustration, change it from frustration to a message of hope, which is really what this is.”
While Pima County is receiving a limited vaccine supply that falls short of the demand for them, the county superintendent’s office wanted to celebrate the thousands of educators who have taken the first step in quelling the transmission of the virus that’s changed every facet of their work lives.
Nearly 9,000 K-12 educators have received their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, according to Pima County Health Department Director Dr. Theresa Cullen. In the county, about 25,000 educators currently qualify to receive their shot in the county's priority 1B group of vaccine rollout, said Pima County Superintendent Dustin Williams.
While educators have successfully registered for vaccines across Pima County’s five PODs, or points of distribution, the county encourages them to go to the University of Arizona or the Tucson Convention Center.
According to the University of Arizona, which only provides vaccines to educators, the POD has administered 9,866 doses as of Monday.
While some local school districts debate whether to return to classrooms and others have already done so, receiving a COVID-19 vaccine is giving many educators hope that instruction will return to normal sooner rather than later.
“We know that schools, when they have face-to-face contact with students, that's the best type of strategy for their cognitive ability, and also their social-emotional,” Williams said. “If we want schools to open in any type of method, whether it be a remote, hybrid or in person, we really want to encourage mitigation strategies. This is just another layer of making sure that the staff at these schools are going to be protected from this deadly virus.”
Ben Collinsworth, a first-grade teacher for Flowing Wells’ digital campus, received his first COVID-19 shot on Jan. 18 at Banner South’s Kino Stadium site. He said it took less time than a standard admissions test would.
“It really hit me when I was waiting in that line of cars that this is the first thing after a whole year that we were doing that was actually part of a solution,” Collinsworth said. “Since March, it's all been about what can we do to prevent the spread? As teachers, as educators, what can we do to teach through the pandemic, or make sure that kids are getting what they need? Here I was sitting in the car, about to finally do something that's like, okay, we're gonna end it. Together, we are going to end it.”
Frannie Neal, a counselor at Tucson Unified School District’s Grijalva Elementary School, received her vaccine on Jan. 19 at Tucson Medical Center.
“It was the best day of the year. It just felt like such a relief. You know, after having to quarantine for so long, it's been really quite difficult,” Neal said. “So it was such a joy to be able to register. It was such a relief that day just knowing that this end is hopefully in sight, and we can go back to school soon safely.”
After hearing stories like Collinsworth’s and Neal’s, Stamp decided to publicly display the photos taken by proud educators. He made a Facebook post requesting educators’ vaccine pictures.
Educators: Share your vaccine photos with us! We are looking for any and all educator vaccination pictures. We want to...
Posted by Pima County School Superintendent's Office on Tuesday, January 19, 2021
“The teachers and the educators who saw it and shared their picture were so ecstatic to share, they just had this sense of pride and this sense of hope that they got their vaccine and you could see it in their faces, just how happy they were to get it,” Stamp said. “I really wanted that story to be told, I wanted to just show that this is happening, this is real, and we're gonna get back into the classroom sooner than later.”
But the step in a return to pre-pandemic classroom settings comes after a year of changes that drastically impacted educators’ careers.
“There are so many components of a school, and school counseling is such a crucial one, especially right now. It's been quite difficult trying to reach certain students or families,” Neal said. “Attendance has been hard, some technology issues or the internet's down or device issues—just a myriad of issues. But I know, especially at our school, everybody's working harder than ever to solve those issues.”
The pandemic is affecting students’ school lives, too.
“I think a lot of students are just feeling disengaged,” Neal said. “I know teachers are working—and counselors, of course—harder than ever to get them engaged and to do movement activities and different things to kind of get them involved.”
At a governing board meeting Tuesday night, TUSD will discuss the results of a parent survey assessing whether to return to a hybrid learning model or remain remote.
“I hope that we can return safely as soon as it's possible to return safely. I think that looks like having as many people as possible vaccinated. Continuing the mask-wearing, continuing all of our mitigation strategies that we've been doing,” Neal said. “I'm very cautious about returning to school unless it is safe.”
Neal and Collinsworth have appointments scheduled in the next two weeks to receive the second vaccine dose needed to be fully immunized.
Grateful for the opportunity to receive the vaccine, Collinsworth encourages persistence for those still trying to schedule an appointment.
“I'm excited for everybody to get a chance to get the vaccine. I know that the rollout has been difficult, finding an appointment has been difficult for a lot of people,” he said. “My message is, keep at it, because every shot is one step closer.”
With 4,381 new cases reported today, the total number of Arizona’s confirmed novel coronavirus cases topped 787,000 as of Tuesday, Feb. 9, according to the Arizona Department of Health Services.
Pima County, which reported 685 new cases today, has seen 105,606 of the state’s 787,268 confirmed cases.
With 231 new deaths reported today, a total number of 14,286 Arizonans have died after contracting COVID-19, including 1,958 deaths in Pima County, according to the Feb. 9 report.
The number of hospitalized COVID cases statewide has declined in recent weeks, with 2,744 coronavirus patients in the hospital as of Feb. 8. That number peaked at 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 1,307 people visited emergency rooms on Feb. 8 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 797 COVID-19 patients were in intensive care unit beds on Feb. 7, 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.
Cases decline but virus remains widespread
While Pima County lacks the vaccine supply to vaccinate enough of the population to reach herd immunity, COVID-19 cases are decreasing across the state. Health experts warn, however, that continued mitigation is needed to maintain the downward trend.
According to the latest report by Dr. Joe Gerald, a University of Arizona professor who creates weekly coronavirus epidemiology reports based on Arizona Department of Health Services data, the week ending Jan. 31 saw a 31% decrease in total COVID-19 cases from the week prior.
In Pima County, coronavirus cases saw a 27% decrease the week ending Jan. 17 from the week before, Gerald reports.
Data from the Pima County Health Department reflects a similar trend. The first week of January saw Pima County’s highest weekly number of COVID-19 cases at 8,860, while the following week dropped to 7,052 and the third week to 5,260. Week four reported 2,916 cases, but data from the last 4-7 days are still trickling in.
“I'm cautiously optimistic. So we have 130,000 plus vaccinated. We have over 103,000 cases, which confers some immunity, at least for that particular 90 days. We do seem to be seeing a decrease in our cases day by day,” said Dr. Theresa Cullen, Pima County’s health department director. “Overall, if we look at what we call the epi curve, we do see that epi curve seems to have hit its peak and is coming down. That is also consistent with what we're seeing with our hospitalizations. We have more ICU bed availability than we have had for the past eight weeks.”
However, Cullen said the county’s test positivity of 12.5% is still high, and while COVID-19 testing has decreased, it hasn’t corresponded with a decreased positivity rate.
“That means that we still have a lot of COVID transmission occurring in the county,” Cullen said.
While the week ending Jan. 17 remains Arizona’s deadliest at 913 reported COVID-19 deaths, Gerald said deaths will remain high for the next four to eight weeks.
The county health department reports 134 COVID-19 deaths for January’s first week, 125 for the second, 85 for the third and six deaths for the last week of the month. More details here.
After state cuts in vaccine doses, county officials warn that it’s going to take longer for Pima residents to get shots
While Pima County widens vaccine eligibility, it’s receiving a reduced vaccine supply that makes it difficult to keep up with demand.
Last week, the Pima County Health Department announced those over 70 are now eligible to receive COVID-19 vaccines by signing up for appointments beginning Monday.
While only the 75+ age group, protective service workers and educators were previously eligible, the health department is expanding its 1B priority group of vaccine recipients to include individuals over 70 after vaccinating more than 130,000 residents over the past six weeks, according to county health department Director Dr. Theresa Cullen.
However, this week’s vaccine allocation has been truncated. Last week, the state allocated Pima County 29,000 doses. This week, the county will only receive 17,800—a 39% decrease in an already strained vaccine supply.
“Weekly allocations to local jurisdictions are based on population size, which phase a county is currently vaccinating, and the number of doses available for allocation. While Pima County’s allocation this week is lower than in the recent past, in total to date, Pima County has received approximately 14% of the state's overall allocation,” Holly Poynter, the Arizona Department of Health Services’ public information officer, explained in an email. “We have asked the federal government for an increased vaccine allocation, but this has not yet occurred. We are hopeful that the allocation will grow in the coming weeks.”
As of Saturday, Pima County administered 147,229 vaccines out of a total state allocation of 165,950 doses. According to ADHS data, the county has given 26,104 sets of the two doses needed for one to be considered fully immunized.
While doses are taken from the state’s total vaccine allocation from the federal government to send to assisted living facilities, Walgreens, CVS and other store-based pharmacies, Cullen says the health department believes some doses are “taken off the top for other things that we may or may not have insight into.”
As the county expands vaccine eligibility to a wider swath of the population, it still has to ensure second doses are available for individuals who already received their first dose.
“We have worked really closely with our PODs, and we are planning for that inevitable time when we need to expand so people can get their second shot,” Cullen said. “But if the immunization numbers are decreased, we're in a situation where we're going to decide whether to do the first or the second shot. The CDC has given institutions the latitude to go to six weeks for a second shot, but not beyond that right now.”
The health director said she has confidence that all those who wish to receive vaccines in Pima County will get a shot when it’s their time to do so. However, the wait times may be elongated if the county continues to receive a limited vaccine supply. More details here.
UA continues vax program for educators, hoping to allow larger classes soon
The University of Arizona has delivered 9,866 COVID-19 vaccines at a rate of 800 shots per day, according to President Dr. Robert C. Robbins.
The UA point of distribution, or POD, is targeted toward educators and childcare providers and has two vaccination sites: a drive-through location at the University of Arizona Mall and a walk-through clinic at the Ina E. Gittings building.
While operating as a vaccine distribution center, UA is basing its learning structures for students on the prevalence of coronavirus in the community.
Robbins lauded the state for its improvement in COVID-19 transmission. While Arizona held the highest rate of transmission in the country throughout most of January, it now ranks at No. 8 yesterday.
If conditions continue to improve, the university will enter stage two of its reentry plan on Feb. 22 with up to 50 students attending classes in person. For now, it remains in stage one with in-person instruction for essential courses only.
From Jan. 28 to Feb. 6, UA administered 18,767 COVID-19 tests and found 127 positive cases for a positivity rating of 0.7%, down from last week’s percent positivity of 1.3%.
The university began the semester requiring on-campus dorm residents to take two COVID-19 tests a week with at least 48 hours between tests. Due to improving COVID-19 data, dorm residents or students who attend classes in-person will only have to take one test a week, Robbins announced.
The university’s CART team, a collaboration with the UA and Tucson police departments that looks for noncompliance to COVID-19 precautions, found 12 total incidents the week of Feb. 1. They responded to six events with under 20 attendees, one event with 20-49 people and five events with an unknown number of participants.
“Remember, we've tried to shoot for under 5%, and we've been significantly under 5% for a long time now. This last number is very, very encouraging,” Robbins said. “These are good signs, however, remain vigilant, continue to cover your face, wash your hands and keep distance from as many people as possible.”
“The people that are demonstrated in these numbers here are people that are taking risks, not only to themselves, but they're becoming potential vectors of disease. 40 or 50% of people carry this virus and don't know it,” said Dr. Richard Carmona, UA’s reentry task force director and former U.S. surgeon general. “You may feel well, but you may be spreading it to others. So it's extraordinarily important that you keep that social distance, stay away from big groups, until such time that we can do that safely again.”
UA Immunobiologist discusses coronavirus variants
UA Immunobiologist Deepta Bhattacharya joined the university’s press conference yesterday to discuss the efficacy of the current COVID-19 vaccines against growing mutations of COVID-19 throughout the country.
Coronavirus variants from the UK, South Africa and Brazil have been discovered in the U.S. In Arizona, at least three test samples have come back positive for the presence of the UK variant, according to the Arizona Department of Health Services.
Bhattacharya also discussed a new variant identified in California.
The immunobiologist said the UK variant, or the B.1.1.7 virus, is of the greatest concern. While all the mutated viruses have a probable chance of increased transmissibility, the UK virus has a 20-50% greater likelihood of transmitting.
Bhattacharya said the UK virus could become the dominant variant in the coming months.
“The key is to actually make sure that the total number of cases is low enough so that even if it does become the dominant variant, it doesn't cause the levels of problems that it has in the United Kingdom and in Israel,” Bhattacharya said.
In early studies, the vaccines are showing promising protection against the UK variant, Bhattacharya said.
The variants from South Africa and Brazil, however, only show partial effectiveness against the vaccines, while the immunity vaccines provide against the California variant is still unknown.
The immunobiologist said the South African variant is showing a nearly six-fold loss against the protective antibodies the vaccines provide.
“This is just a little bit of evidence that we're going to need some things besides just the vaccines to keep the virus under control,” Bhattacharya said. More details here.
Vaccine available now in Marana and Oro Valley area
MHC Healthcare is currently scheduling COVID-19 vaccine appointments for those older than 75 in the Marana and Oro Valley areas.
On Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays, appointments will take place at MHC Healthcare Marana Main Health Center at 13395 N. Marana Main St.
Vaccinations will take place every Thursday at the James D. Kriegh Park at 23 W Calle Concordia in Oro Valley.
Appointments will run from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., and residents of Oro Valley, Marana, Dove Mountain, Catalina, Avra Valley, Picture Rocks and Summer Haven can register at mhchealthcare.org.
Vaccinations at both locations will be administered in a drive-thru setting using the Moderna vaccine.
As of last Monday, MHC had received 2,300 vaccines from the Pima County Health Department and administered 1,714.
Get tested: Pima County has free COVID testing
Pima County offers a number of testing centers around town.
You’ll have a nasal swab test at the Kino Event Center (2805 E. Ajo Way) the Udall Center (7200 E. Tanque Verde Road) and downtown (88 E. Broadway).
The center at the northside Ellie Towne Flowing Wells Community Center, 1660 W. Ruthrauff Road, involves a saliva test designed by ASU.
In addition, the Pima County Health Department, Pima Community College and Arizona State University have partnered to create new drive-thru COVID-19 testing sites at three Pima Community College locations. At the drive-thru sites, COVID-19 testing will be offered through spit samples instead of nasal canal swabs. Each site will conduct testing from 9 a.m. to noon, and registration is required in advance. Only patients 5 years or older can be tested.
Schedule an appointment at these or other pop-up sites at pima.gov/covid19testing.
The University of Arizona’s antibody testing has been opened to all Arizonans as the state attempts to get a handle on how many people have been exposed to COVID-19 but were asymptomatic or otherwise did not get a test while they were ill. To sign up for testing, visit https://covid19antibodytesting.arizona.edu/home.
—with additional reporting from Austin Counts, Jeff Gardner, Nicole Ludden and Mike Truelsen
Monday, February 8, 2021
With 2,250 new cases reported today, the total number of Arizona’s confirmed novel coronavirus cases closed in on 783,000 as of Monday, Feb. 8, according to the Arizona Department of Health Services.
Pima County, which reported 246 new cases today, has seen 104,921 of the state’s 782,887 confirmed cases.
With seven new deaths reported today, a total number of 14,055 Arizonans have died after contracting COVID-19, including 1,904 deaths in Pima County, according to the Feb. 8 report.
The number of hospitalized COVID cases statewide has declined in recent weeks, with 2,853 coronavirus patients in the hospital as of Feb. 7. That number peaked at 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 1,419 people visited emergency rooms on Feb. 7 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.
PHOENIX – From the importance of personal protective equipment to dealing with the harsh isolation of quarantined patients, the medical community learned countless lessons during the first year of COVID-19, a pandemic unprecedented in modern times.
“Limiting it to one (lesson), it is how profound it is that social inequity kills people,” said Dr. Andrew Badley, infectious diseases specialist and head of the COVID-19 Research Task Force at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn.
Badley was joined virtually by a panel of Mayo specialists, to reflect on the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic and the medical community and their hospitals’ response, sharing lessons they learned along the way.
Badley said disadvantaged populations are at risk because they work jobs deemed essential, which increases their potential for exposure to the coronavirus that causes COVID-19, and have less access to health care resources.
In Arizona, Mayo Clinic hospital medical director Dr. Alyssa Chapital said people who need care for ailments and conditions other than COVID-19 are not seeking treatment.
“Patients requiring hospitalization and, to some extent ICU, are dropping down,” the Phoenix-based physician said. “What we are seeing right now is delayed care that we have to address. We have a backlog of surgical procedures, and we are going to have to meet the need of that in hospitals, as well as the acute-care needs that will come along.”
The Arizona Department of Health Services reports more than 13,000 Arizonians have died since the first case was reported in the state in January 2020.
Friday, February 5, 2021
With 3,826 new cases reported today, the total number of Arizona’s confirmed novel coronavirus cases surpassed 775,000 as of Friday, Feb. 5, according to the Arizona Department of Health Services.
Pima County, which reported 484 new cases today, has seen 103,932 of the state’s 775,622 confirmed cases.
With 196 new deaths reported today, a total number of 13,948 Arizonans have died after contracting COVID-19, including 1,899 deaths in Pima County, according to the Feb. 5 report.
The number of hospitalized COVID cases statewide has declined in recent weeks, with 3,167 coronavirus patients in the hospital as of Feb. 4. That number peaked at 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 1,633 people visited emergency rooms on Feb. 4 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 909 COVID-19 patients were in intensive care unit beds on Feb. 4, 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.
State cuts Pima County vaccine allocation by 40 percent
The Arizona Department of Health Services told Pima County officials yesterday that the allocation of vaccine doses would be cut by 40 percent this week.
Wednesday, February 3, 2021
With 2,296 new cases reported today, the total number of Arizona’s confirmed novel coronavirus cases surpassed 767,000 as of Wednesday, Feb. 3, according to the Arizona Department of Health Services.
Pima County, which reported 392 new cases today, has seen 102,712 of the state’s 767,379 confirmed cases.
A total number of 13,576 Arizonans have died after contracting COVID-19, including 1,831 deaths in Pima County, according to the Feb. 3 report.
The number of hospitalized COVID cases statewide has declined in recent weeks, with 3,456 in the hospital as of Feb. 2. That number peaked at 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 1,639 people visited emergency rooms on Feb. 2 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 955 COVID-19 patients were in intensive care unit beds on Feb. 2, 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 75 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.
State preparing to set up a 24-hour vaccination site in Pima County
After some communication troubles between Pima County and the state, Arizona Department of Health Services Director Cara Christ said plans are in the works to set up a 24-hour vaccination site in the county.
Although County Administrator Chuck Huckelberry has requested the state’s help in setting up a 24-hour point of distribution site at Rillito Park, it’s not clear where the state-run site would be set up.
Christ wrote in a letter to Huckelberry on Jan. 29 that “ADHS will work with the Arizona Department of Emergency and Military Affairs (DEMA) to select the vaccination site and discuss logistics.”
If the state sets up the POD, the vaccines supplying it would be taken out of Pima County’s total state allocation.
As of Tuesday, the state’s allocated Pima County 165,950 doses, and the county has administered 119,585 vaccines.
“Any remaining doses of vaccine will be passed on to the county for further allocation. We will notify the Pima County Health Department once details are finalized,” Christ wrote in the letter.
Huckelberry responded to the letter on Monday requesting the state follow Pima County’s accelerated vaccination plan to ensure those most vulnerable to COVID-19 receive vaccines first and that “disadvantaged populations” have equal access to vaccinations. More details here.
Vaccinations continue in Pima County
Pima County has administered 114,165 COVID-19 vaccines as of Feb. 1 but has only completed 18,691 series of the two doses needed to be fully immunized.
This week, the county’s vaccine allocation from the state rose to 165,950, up from 140,425 doses last week, according to Arizona Department of Health Services data.
While Pima County struggles to vaccinate nearly 150,000 currently eligible—the 75+ population, educators, childcare providers and protective service workers—Maricopa County’s two 24-hour state-run PODS are receiving nearly 35,000 doses more than the entirety of Pima County, according to data from ADHS.
The two PODs—one at the State Farm Stadium in Glendale that opened on Jan. 11 and a second at the Phoenix Municipal Stadium on that opened Monday—have been allocated 200,850 vaccine doses.
Maricopa County has been allocated 461,375 vaccines on top of its state-run PODs and has administered 297,469 doses as of Monday.
Pima County Administrator Chuck Huckelberry made the case for allocating more vaccines to Pima County in a Jan. 29 memo.
“While population is one measure, another measure would be the percent of the population that is more vulnerable to COVID-19 than other population components within the County,” he wrote.
The county administrator compared racial groups, individuals over 65, those living below the federal poverty level and those in the state’s Medicaid program in Pima and Maricopa counties. These populations are expected to be most impacted by the pandemic.
Of Pima County’s population, 38% are Hispanic, 20% are above age 65, 14% live below the poverty level and 31% are enrolled in Arizona’s Medicaid program, according to the memo.
In Maricopa County, 31% are Hispanic, 16% are above 65, 12% live below the poverty level and 28% are enrolled in state Medicaid.
Despite struggling for the county’s fair share of vaccines, Huckelberry also announced the next group to be eligible for the vaccine, those over 65, could be able to register for vaccines by “early February.”
After working out the many kinks of the county’s registration site, Huckelberry now believes the website will be able to handle the surge of new registrants. More details here.
Vaccine available now in Marana and Oro Valley area
MHC Healthcare is currently scheduling COVID-19 vaccine appointments for those above 75 in the Marana and Oro Valley areas.
On Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays, appointments will take place at MHC Healthcare Marana Main Health Center at 13395 N. Marana Main St.
Beginning this week, vaccinations will take place every Thursday at the James D. Kriegh Park at 23 W Calle Concordia in Oro Valley.
Appointments will run from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., and residents of Oro Valley, Marana, Dove Mountain, Catalina, Avra Valley, Picture Rocks and Summer Haven can register at mhchealthcare.org.
Vaccinations at both locations will be administered in a drive-thru setting using the Moderna vaccine.
As of Monday, MHC had received 2,300 vaccines from the Pima County Health Department and administered 1,714.
Get tested: Pima County has free COVID testing
Pima County offers a number of testing centers around town.
You’ll have a nasal swab test at the Kino Event Center (2805 E. Ajo Way) the Udall Center (7200 E. Tanque Verde Road) and downtown (88 E. Broadway).
The center at the northside Ellie Towne Flowing Wells Community Center, 1660 W. Ruthrauff Road, involves a saliva test designed by ASU.
In addition, the Pima County Health Department, Pima Community College and Arizona State University have partnered to create new drive-thru COVID-19 testing sites at three Pima Community College locations. At the drive-thru sites, COVID-19 testing will be offered through spit samples instead of nasal canal swabs. Each site will conduct testing from 9 a.m. to noon, and registration is required in advance. Only patients 5 years or older can be tested.
Schedule an appointment at these or other pop-up sites at pima.gov/covid19testing.
The University of Arizona’s antibody testing has been opened to all Arizonans as the state attempts to get a handle on how many people have been exposed to COVID-19 but were asymptomatic or otherwise did not get a test while they were ill. To sign up for testing, visit https://covid19antibodytesting.arizona.edu/home.
—with additional reporting from Austin Counts, Jeff Gardner, Nicole Ludden and Mike Truelsen
Tuesday, February 2, 2021
MHC Healthcare is currently scheduling COVID-19 vaccine appointments for those above 75 in the Marana and Oro Valley areas.
On Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays, appointments will take place at MHC Healthcare Marana Main Health Center at 13395 N. Marana Main St.
Beginning this week, vaccinations will take place every Thursday at the James D. Kriegh Park at 23 W Calle Concordia in Oro Valley.
Appointments will run from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., and residents of Oro Valley, Marana, Dove Mountain, Catalina, Avra Valley, Picture Rocks and Summer Haven can register at mhchealthcare.org.
Vaccinations at both locations will be administered in a drive-thru setting using the Moderna vaccine.
As of Monday, MHC had received 2,300 vaccines from the Pima County Health Department and administered 1,714.
After some communication troubles between Pima County and the state, Arizona Department of Health Services Director Cara Christ said plans are the works to set up a 24-hour vaccination site in the county.
Although County Administrator Chuck Huckelberry has requested the state’s help in setting up a 24-hour point of distribution site at Rillito Park, it’s not clear where the state-run site would be set up.
Christ wrote in a letter to Huckelberry on Jan. 29 that “ADHS will work with the Arizona Department of Emergency and Military Affairs (DEMA) to select the vaccination site and discuss logistics.”
If the state sets up the POD, the vaccines supplying it would be taken out of Pima County’s total state allocation.
As of Tuesday, the state’s allocated Pima County 165,950 doses, and the county has administered 119,585 vaccines.
“Any remaining doses of vaccine will be passed on to the county for further allocation. We will notify the Pima County Health Department once details are finalized,” Christ wrote in the letter.
Huckelberry responded to the letter on Monday requesting the state follow Pima County’s accelerated vaccination plan to ensure those most vulnerable to COVID-19 receive vaccines first and that “disadvantaged populations” have equal access to vaccinations.
In her letter to the county administrator, Christ said vaccine providers that had over 40% of their doses remaining as of Jan. 25 were not eligible for additional vaccine allocations, per Gov. Doug Ducey’s Jan. 26 executive order.
The order states: “Counties that have 40 percent or more of the total doses allocated to their jurisdiction remaining will not receive additional doses of COVID-19 vaccine until 80 percent of their current inventory is utilized.”
However, Huckelberry said the county health department wasn’t informed on the state’s methodology in calculating vaccine utilization and was unable to gauge what percentage of allocated doses each vaccine facility used.
While Pima County has used 71% of their current vaccine supply, the county administrator said one county POD previously received a notification from the state that they had used less than 40% of their supply without information on how the rate was calculated.
Huckelberry said the notice was retracted by the state but asked Christ for more clarification going forward.
“To help assist our PODs, we would ask to understand the calculation methodology, have a preview of the messaging to our partners who receive allocations as well as be invited to any meetings that involve these partners,” he wrote. “We understand these are all startup irregularities. You can be assured that we are using our vaccine when supplied efficiently and effectively.”
Pima County needs more vaccine supply
As Pima County struggles to vaccinate nearly the 150,000 residents currently eligible—the 75+ population, educators, childcare providers and protective service workers—it’s unclear if a state-run site would help or hinder the county by taking vaccine allocation away from it.
Maricopa County currently has two 24-hour state-run PODs, one at the State Farm Stadium in Glendale that opened on Jan. 11 and a second at the Phoenix Municipal Stadium on that opened Monday.
The state has allocated the two PODs 200,850 vaccines on top of the 461,375 doses allocated to Maricopa County itself.
As of today, the 24-hour PODs have administered 123,242 vaccines while Maricopa has administered 304,264.
The two PODs alone have received nearly 35,000 doses more than the entirety of Pima County.
