COVID-19 Vaccine Update May 13

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that Arizona has administered 5,408,077 doses of vaccine and 3,076,913 people have received at least one dose of vaccine. This means that 42.8% of the state has now been vaccinated. Nationally, 46.4% of people have been vaccinated and 35.4% of people are fully vaccinated.

This information comes from the CDC COVID-19 Data Tracker.

A study published in JAMA on Thursday from the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital demonstrates that COVID-19 vaccination dramatically reduces the chances of contracting the virus in either symptomatic or asymptomatic form, Modern Healthcare reports.

Age Availability

The Arizona Department of Health Services (ADHS) announced that pending CDC approval, teenagers 12 to 15 yeas of age will be eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine as of Thursday, May 13. From Governor Doug Ducey, in a press release:

The COVID-19 vaccines are safe, effective and free ‒ and they’re our best shot to end this pandemic and return to the things we’ve missed. We’re moving quickly to empower parents and guardians to get this protection for their children. Millions of Arizonans have already received the COVID-19 vaccine. Soon, kids ages 12 to 15 years old will now be eligible to get vaccinated and state vaccine sites are ready to serve them.

The Food and Drug Administration authorized use of the vaccine in that age bracket on Monday, according to the Washington Post.

Pfizer will also pursue authorization for use of the vaccine in children as young as two years old by September this year, the New York Times reports. The company plans to apply this month for approval of the vaccine for use in people from 16 to 85 and expects to have clinical trial data on the safety of the vaccine in pregnant women by early August.

Vaccine Hesitancy

Arizona doctors ordered 11% of the COVID-19 doses made available for direct order by physicians this week. Although the low number of orders comes when vaccination rates are slowing, it is expected that providers will begin to order more doses soon, according to AZCentral.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services is expanding efforts to grow public confidence in the COVID-19 vaccine and improve uptake in vulnerable populations, according to a CMS press release. These requirements will apply to long-term care facilities (LTCs) and intermediate facilities, and will be for both residents and staff members.

The Atlantic asked why vaccination rates are suddenly falling off, and quickly. The results are likely to do with a large number of reasons that may overlap and intersect for individuals as they make the decision to get vaccinated. Ultimately, vaccination rates were likely to begin to slow down late in the spring, but the Johnson & Johnson pause by the CDC and Food and Drug Administration hurt faith in the safety of the vaccine and caused those rates to accelerate.