PHOENIX – Arizona Department of Health Services Director, Dr. Cara Christ, did not allow questions at a media opportunity on Wednesday for frontline healthcare professionals receiving their second dose of the coronavirus vaccine.
A group of health professionals was present at the Wednesday morning event to receive the second dose of the vaccine, three weeks after the first. See the video of the event in the player below.
Dr. Christ also received her second vaccination and, soon after, left the press conference without offering an opportunity for questions and answers, despite the worsening of the COVID-19 crisis in our state.
Arizona’s chief public health director gave the press an opportunity to show the second doses of vaccines being administered.
She didn’t answer any questions and left shortly after asking the second 💉
Hospitals are in crisis, bringing freezer trucks to bodies, but they do not serve pic.twitter.com/uL7Hf2FZ3L
– Nicole Grigg (@NicoleSGrigg) January 6, 2021
In mid-December, Governor Doug Ducey and Dr. Christ appeared together while visiting a vaccination site, asking Arizonans to receive the vaccine.
At a media availability on Wednesday, ABC15 reporter Mike Pelton asked Banner Health’s Clinical Director, Dr. Marjorie Bessel, if she believed Dr. Christ and Governor Ducey did a good job of helping hospitals fight this increase.
“The state of Arizona has now become the hottest hotspot for COVID,” said Dr. Bessel. “We are not doing a good job with this virus right now during the pandemic outbreak. We need additional mitigation, we need the application of these mitigation activities and we need everyone to do their part.
Valleywise Health also noted on Wednesday that they are keeping patients in emergency rooms because there are no ICU staffed or inpatient beds.
“The wait can be anywhere from a few hours to more than 24 or 48 hours in the emergency department until we can move someone from the emergency department to a hospital bed,” said Valleywise Health Clinical Director, Dr. Michael White.
Dr. White also encouraged people to do their part, while advocating for more mitigation efforts to help ease the burden on hospitals.
“I have never personally seen anything like it in all the years that I have been … providing medical assistance,” said Dr. White.
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