FILE – A registered nurse gives James Mullen the second dose of the coronavirus vaccine at a COVID-19 vaccination site at NYC Health + Hospitals Metropolitan, Thursday, Feb. 18, 2021, in New York. After months of coaxing people to get vaccinated against COVID-19 with incentives like museum tickets and transit passes, New York City is sweetening the pot by offering $100 to any city resident who gets a first dose of a coronavirus vaccine at a city-run site, Mayor Bill de Blasio said Wednesday, July 28, 2021. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer, File)
PHOENIX – Arizona health officials on Saturday reported 2,653 new cases and 34 additional deaths from the disease.
The latest documented totals are 940,762 infections and 18,342 fatalities, according to the Arizona Department of Health Services COVID-19 dashboard.
Hospitalizations in the state related to COVID-19 have more than doubled over the past month but remain far below the peaks reached before vaccines were widely available. Unvaccinated people now account for almost all of the serious illnesses and deaths.
The number of confirmed or suspected COVID-19 inpatients in the state’s hospitals rose by 49 overnight to 1,358 on Friday, the most since Feb. 25.
The number of ICU beds used by COVID-19 patients went up by 24 to 361.
The percent positivity for diagnostic testing conducted this week was at 15% as of Friday’s update, the highest since late January.
The dashboard also showed that 3,819,025 people (53.1% of the state’s population, based on 7,189,020 residents) have received at least one dose of vaccine in Arizona and 3,369,986 people are fully vaccinated (46.9% of the population). Arizona trails the nationwide rates of 58.4% with at least one dose and 50% fully vaccinated as reported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The state health department’s daily updates present case and death data after the state receives statistics and confirms them, which can lag by several days or more. They don’t represent the actual activity over the past 24 hours. The hospitalization numbers posted each morning are reported electronically the previous evening by hospitals across the state.
Free federally authorized vaccines are widely available and highly effective in preventing illness from COVID-19, including the more contagious delta variant that now accounts for most of the new cases in the U.S.
For details about statewide vaccine availability, the ADHS website has a vaccine-finder page with locations and other information.
For information about metro Phoenix vaccine availability, Maricopa County Public Health has a locator page that lists pharmacies, government-run sites, health clinics and pop-up distribution events.
Appointments may be required depending on the provider, but many accept walk-ins.
The minimum age to receive the Pfizer shot has been reduced to 12, but it’s still 18 for the other approved versions, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson.
COVID-19, the disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, has no impact on some people and is seriously debilitating or fatal for others. Infected people without symptoms — which include but are not limited to cough, fever and difficulty breathing — are capable of spreading the virus.
Information about where to get tested for COVID-19 can be found on the ADHS website.