Contributed Photo/Courtesy U.S. Census Bureau: Graham County listed two new deaths attributed to COVID-19.
By Jon Johnson
SAFFORD – The Graham County Department of Health and Human Services announced two additional deaths from COVID-19 to bring the county’s total for the pandemic to 115.
The deaths occurred within the past four days along with 85 newly confirmed cases to bring the currently active caseload to 482. The vast majority of the new cases come from the Safford zip code, where the majority of the population resides.
Last week, the Mt. Graham Regional Medical Center reported a daily average of nine patients hospitalized for COVID-19 over the past 14 days. The hospital reported that since Sept. 1, 2021, 95.4 percent of the patients hospitalized for COVID-19 have not been vaccinated.
For the course of the pandemic, Graham County has had 7,512 confirmed cases, with 6,915 recoveries, 482 currently active cases, and 115 deaths. Those numbers give Graham County a virus death rate of 1.53 percent for the county’s confirmed cases. That is slightly better than the state average of 1.81 percent.
The majority of cases in Graham County continue to be from the 20-44 age group with 3,524, followed by those under 20 with 1,331 cases, those aged 45-54 with 1,073 cases, those aged 55-64 with 791 cases, those 65 and older with 769 cases, and 24 unknown.
While perhaps a little late to adopt, Graham County has seen its vaccination rate increase as of late and the number of vaccine doses given continues to outpace the number of new cases. In its most recent update on the Arizona Department of Health Services COVID-19 data dashboard, Graham County reported 44 new vaccines doses given on its last day as opposed to just six new confirmed cases in the same time period.
According to the Centers for Disease Control, Graham County has an overall vaccination rate of 65.2 percent of the “eligible population.” However, vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna are both expected to be approved for youth as young as 5 years old. Previously, Pfizer’s vaccine had been given emergency-use authorization for those as young as 12.
According to the CDC, 77.5 percent of the adult population of Graham County has had at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, with 68.4 percent being fully vaccinated. The same chart lists residents who are 65 and older with 99.9 percent having at least one dose and 93.9 percent being fully vaccinated.
Greenlee County
The Greenlee County Health Department last reported nine new confirmed cases on Sunday, bringing its active caseload to 258.
For the course of the pandemic, Greenlee County has had 1,107 confirmed cases, with 833 recoveries, 258 currently active cases, and 16 deaths. Those statistics give Greenlee County a virus death rate of 1.44 percent for its confirmed cases.
