COVID-19 is still present in Arizona and cases are rapidly rising while Governor Doug Ducey signs a number of anti-public health bills into law preventing any public COVID prevention policies from implementation.
The New York Times COVID Tracker reports that Arizona cases of COVID-19 are up 84% in the past two weeks and the Arizona Department of Health Services COVID-19 data dashboard reports 11,498 new cases since last Wednesday and 40 new deaths.
The head of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, told officials gathered in Geneva for the opening of the WHO annual meeting that the COVID-19 pandemic is “most certainly not over.” According to the Associated Press, he also mentioned that nearly 1 billion people in low-income countries also have not been vaccinated.
Governor Ducey signed two bills last week that would pre-empt public health measures designed to limit the spread of COVID-19 or other airborne illness. The first, HB 2086, prohibits ADHS from ever adding the COVID vaccine or boosters to the list of vaccines required for school attendance. According to the Arizona Public Health Association (AzPHA), the new law is “totally unnecessary.”
The existing process for adding school required vaccines has been in place for decades and works well.
The second, HB 2453, prohibits the government from implementing a mask mandate on government property. Emergency mask mandates would now be required to be implemented by an emergency decree from the Governor’s Office, Courthouse News reports.
Last month, a panel of the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals vacated a lower court ruling blocking a vaccine mandate for federal employees that was first ordered by President Joe Biden last September. Associated Press reports that the 2-1 ruling will not take effect until May 31, and on Saturday a handful of anti-vaccine groups including the Feds for Medical Freedom filed a petition requesting that the appellate court ruling be vacated and that the full 17-member court hear new arguments in the case.
Vaccine News
Sweden is recommending a fifth COVID-19 vaccine for high-risk people including pregnant women and anyone over the age of 65. According to Axios, the Swedish Social Affairs Minister Lena Hallengren said that the pandemic is “not over:”
The vaccine is our strongest tool for preventing serious illness and death.
The Arizona Department of Health Services announced that it is looking for new partners for a mobile program to bring vaccines and boosters directly to Arizonans. The mobile program has been ongoing since 2021 and has been offered in Maricopa, Pima, Navajo, Mohave, Yavapai and Gila counties. ADHS requests that any organization that would like to partner for a mobile vaccination event should contact the department to coordinate a pop-up vaccination clinic, mobile clinics or in-home vaccination.
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