PHOENIX – The death toll in Arizona has been rising for the second time since COVID-19 and state officials now report more than 500 deaths per week since the beginning of December.
ABC15 has been monitoring the death timeline since the first death was reported and, in the last 10 days, 1,000 deaths have been added to the state’s COVID-19 panel.
December 9, 2020: 7,000 confirmed deaths
December 22, 2020: 8,000 confirmed deaths
January 1, 2021: 9,000 confirmed deaths
The Arizona Department of Health Services recorded more than 600 deaths in the week of December 13 – exceeding the predictions of researchers at the University of Arizona.
In mid-December, Dr. Joe Gerald warned, by Christmas, Arizona will have more than 500 deaths per week, although this may not be apparent until mid-January, when all deaths are counted.
The latest information from ADHS shows that, since the first week of December, we have had more than 500 deaths, exceeding up to 600 deaths in a week – the same number that we saw during the summer peak in July.
“I don’t know what’s going on, but who’s going to save us?” Asked Dr. Shad Marvasti, who teaches at the University of Arizona School of Medicine.
Marvasti said that we can expect deaths to continue to increase in Arizona “, maybe people think, and maybe the state leadership thinks the vaccine will save us, and the reality is that the vaccine will not save us now, the vaccine I hope will help people and eventually save them in the future, “said Dr. Marvasti.
A total of about 80,000 COVID-19 vaccines were administered in Arizona on January 1, according to an ADHS statement.
Earlier this week, Dr. Cara Christ said that by the end of the week we will have received about 314,000 first doses of the vaccine, which means that Arizona administered about 25% of what was received.
“Our partners who operate local vaccine administration programs and programs across the state have done a fantastic job,” said Dr. Cara Christ, director of the Arizona Department of Health Services, “but we cannot be satisfied when any dose of COVID-19 vaccine is in a freezer instead of protecting Arizonans. ADHS and local partners are continually working to increase access to the vaccine and to get more and more people vaccinated. “
ADHS says there are currently 70 vaccination sites in operation and more planned to open next week across the state.
Press releases said it expects to begin Phase 1B of vaccine distribution by the end of January in most counties. This group prioritizes teachers, daycare workers, protection service workers and individuals aged 75 and over.
The vaccine’s launch in Arizona has been slow, but state leaders say the number will increase as early as next week. However, public health experts say these vaccines will not help delay the current immediate spread of COVID-19, as we have not seen any new mitigation measures in place.
“What is really surprising about this whole situation is the fact that you had experts, scientific experts, public health and epidemiology experts from all three state universities publicly showing models of what will happen if we do nothing, and we’re basically seeing that each of these models from all three state universities was like a prophecy, “said Dr. Marvasti,” they basically predicted everything that is happening now “.