Survey: Arizona is ranked as the “lowest safest” condition in a pandemic | COVID-19 (Coronavirus Disease) (# Add parentheses on first appearance if there is no character limit

Meanwhile, hospitalizations last week have fallen by 6% in the last two weeks. This is another sign that the surge in infectious diseases that may have been caused by family gatherings on vacation has subsided.

The deployment of vaccination, which provides 95% protection with minimal side effects, continues slowly. Last week, the Apache, Navajo, and Gila county websites reported that the clinic did not have enough new doses to schedule additional appointments.

Even a high-risk group of people is frustrated and frightened to call or visit a website every day in the hope of getting two shots in a month that gives them protection against the virus. I’m in a position.

Hira County has completed vaccination of at least front-line healthcare workers, teachers and public safety workers before vaccination shortages and shifting vaccine clinic schedules to health partners such as Banner through the state’s booking system. I did. The rest of the 1A and 1B groups (including teachers and people over the age of 75) were advised to keep checking open appointments online. On January 25, the site said reservations were not available.

As of last week, Apache and Navajo counties did not start with high-priority groups such as teachers and public security workers, much less other high-priority key workers and groups over the age of 75.

Due to the high infection rate across the state and the relatively slow deployment of vaccination programs, Arizona has become the “lowest-safety” state of COVID-19 nationwide on the Wallet Hub website, based on various measurements. Has won. The site’s scoring system gave top-ranked Alaska a score of 95.43 and Arizona a score of 8.20.

Ironically, the Arizona Republican Party has accused Republican Governor Doug Ducey of pandemic-related business restrictions, but the states are less restrictive than most other states and earlier than most other states last spring. The restriction was lifted. Ducey refused to issue a state-wide mask mandate, despite federal recommendations.

The Wallet Hub site considered five factors to determine Arizona’s ranking among the 50 states and the District of Columbia. As of January 20, on average for six days, Arizona rates were 10 or 14 times worse than the “safest” condition in most categories.

Percentage of positive tests: 51st

Hospitalization rate: 51st

In summary, the states with the lowest immunization rates were also the ones with the highest number of new cases, deaths, and hospitalizations per capita. These numbers suggest that vaccine deployment issues are closely linked to policy failure to slow the spread of the virus.

As of January 25, the state reported 728,000 cases and 12,239 deaths, according to state and federal reports.

High infection rates are widespread throughout the state. Graham County has the highest incidence, with an average of 167 daily cases per 100,000 in the last two weeks. The neighboring Greenlee County was the lowest, with 38 per 100,000.

Gila County fell halfway, with 97 cases per 100,000, about the same as the state-wide average of 93.

Currently, about 19 million people have been vaccinated with at least one Moderna or Pfizer vaccine, but so far only two have been approved in the United States. The first shot gives you about 60% protection from the virus. Approximately 3.2 million people have received a second dose, increasing protection to approximately 95% while minimizing side effects. Reported side effects include flu-like symptoms for up to a day, but rare cases of more serious allergic reactions have also been reported. However, the virus itself has far more serious consequences. For example, 1% or 2% of people who test positive will die. Perhaps because of the large number of people who have recovered from infection without being tested, mortality can be low.

Federal health officials on Sunday estimate that perhaps 2 million people will be vaccinated daily by this week, up from about 1 million per week.

According to the Federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Arizona is in the bottom 25% when it comes to the percentage of vaccine doses actually given.

Epidemiologists say that the pandemic is virtually uncontrolled until about 80% or 90% of the population is vaccinated or recovered from the infection. Health experts want to cross that threshold sometime this summer, demonstrating that people can get the vaccine more aggressively.

When Payson’s school offered free shots to all teachers and school staff shortly after Christmas, about one-third of qualified people decided not to be vaccinated. Nursing homes also report that the majority of their staff chose not to get the free vaccine.

If it affects the entire population, even mass vaccination may not be sufficient to stop the spread of the virus to people who refuse to fire or who have not been vaccinated (such as children).