Coconino County sheriff’s officials said Thursday that COVID-19 vaccinations now are being administered to jail inmates.
The county Detention Facility Medical Unit has completed Arizona Department of Health Services training which certifies the sheriff’s office medical staff to administer the doses.
The county jail quarantines all new inmates for 14 days upon arrival prior to testing for the coronavirus.
Inmates who test negative after quarantine are placed in the general inmate population while those who test positive are moved to the medical unit and treated as required.
So far, sheriff’s officials said 180 inmates and 35 detention staff members have tested positive for COVID-19.
They said all inmates at the county jail are deemed high risk for contracting the virus due to being housed in a congregate setting.
All vaccinations will be entered into the statewide Immunization Information System.
Meanwhile, Arizona health officials on Thursday reported 121 deaths from COVID-19 but only 939 additional confirmed cases amid indicators of continued slowing of the coronavirus outbreak.
The 939 additional cases marked the first day since Nov. 30 that the state Department of Health Services reported fewer than 1,000 additional confirmed cases.
The latest figures increased Arizona’s pandemic totals to 812,907 cases and 15,814 deaths.
The state’s coronavirus dashboard indicated COVID-19-related hospitalizations continued to drop and data from The COVID Tracking Project showed that seven-day rolling averages of daily new cases and daily deaths declined from two weeks ago.
According to the state’s dashboard, 1,385 COVD-19 patients occupied inpatient beds on Wednesday, down from the pandemic high of 5,082 on Jan. 11.
The rolling average of daily new cases in Arizona dropped from 3,123.7 on Feb. 10 to 1,559 on Wednesday while the rolling average of daily deaths dropped from 126.6 to 105.5 during the same period.
The number of infections is thought to be far higher than reported because many people have not been tested, and studies suggest people can be infected with the virus without feeling sick.
Republished with the permission of the Associated Press.
