Every death attributed to COVID-19 in Graham County has been of an unvaccinated person, as well as nearly all of the hospitalizations.
By Jon Johnson
GRAHAM COUNTY – The Graham County Department of Health and Human Services announced an additional death attributed to COVID-19 on Thursday. The recent passing raises the county’s total to the pandemic to 96.
According to the health department, every death from COVID-19 in Graham County has been those who have not received a COVID-19 vaccine, which is free. Roughly 65 of the victims died before a vaccine was readily available as it is now. On a statewide level, the Arizona Department of Health Services reports that between March through late August, 93.2 percent of deaths attributed to COVID involved those who were not fully vaccinated.
The health department also listed 21 new positive cases on Thursday, bringing the active case number to 722. For the course of the pandemic, Graham County has had 6,533 total confirmed cases, with 5,715 recoveries, 722 active cases, and 96 deaths.
Shaylee Richards, Mt. Graham Regional Medical Center Director of Marketing & Community Relations, recently advised that the hospital will begin providing weekly COVID updates on its resources page here. The data from its Wednesday post shows an average of 14 COVID patients hospitalized each day for the past two weeks and a 35.41 percent positivity of all COVID tests in the same time period.
Health experts advise the best way to avoid sickness or death and help prevent the spread of COVID-19 is to become vaccinated against it, just as people are vaccinated against other diseases. While breakthrough cases may occur in vaccinated people, the virus is far more likely to be caught by someone who is not vaccinated. Additionally, vaccinated people are much more likely to be asymptomatic or have mild symptoms if a breakthrough case occurs. Nearly all of the patients hospitalized locally for COVID have been unvaccinated.
The Graham County Department of Health and Human Services offers free vaccines from Pfizer, Moderna, and Johnson & Johnson. Children 12 and up can receive the Pfizer vaccine, and adults can have any of the three. The health department provides the vaccine Mondays-Wednesdays from 8 a.m. – 12 p.m., Thursdays from 2 – 5 p.m., and the Pfizer vaccine on Thursdays and Fridays from 5 – 7:30 p.m. Click here to register to receive a vaccine.
MGRMC and local pharmacies also provide the various vaccines for free.
Greenlee County
The Greenlee County Health Department announced 12 new confirmed cases on Wednesday. For September, Greenlee has already seen 56 new cases to push its active caseload to 157.
For the course of the pandemic, Greenlee County has reported 798 total cases as of Wednesday, with 628 recoveries, 157 active cases, and 13 deaths.
