What You Need to Know-Week of May 10th
The most important weekly updates for you to keep your community healthy
In this Update:
1. Urgent Updates: Transmission & Vaccine Information
2. Quick Question: Can kids get a COVID-19 vaccine?
3. Testing Tips: What is an antibody test?
1. Urgent Updates: Transmission & Vaccine Information
Updated as of: 05-10-2021
Weekly case, death, and hospitalization counts: High, cases and hospitalizations increasing
| In the past week, there has been an average of: | |
| Cases per day | 727 |
| Deaths per day | 11 |
| Compared to two weeks ago: | |
| Cases per day | Increased by 21% ↑ |
| Deaths per day | Decreased by 6% ↓ |
| Hospitalizations per day | Increased by 14% ↑ |
View all data related to covid19 in arizona state
Vaccine Information:
| past week average: | ||
|---|---|---|
| Number of people | Percentage | |
| Arizonans who are fully vaccinated | 2,342,790 | 30% |
| Arizonans who have received at least one dose (of a Pfizer or Moderna vaccine) |
2,967,826 |
41.3% |
See updated vaccine information
5,124,694 total COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered in Arizona
It is still important to take safety precautions even after receiving a COVID-19 vaccine.
Worldwide Update:
COVID-19 cases in India have increased by over 2.6 million in the past week alone and the country has surpassed 20 million cases in total. As a result, India is facing immense shortages of healthcare personnel, hospital beds, and essential equipment (e.g., oxygen). There are reputable organizations that are currently accepting donations
2. Quick Question: Can kids get a COVID-19 vaccine?
Although kids are less likely to experience severe disease or die from COVID-19, it is still essential that they get vaccinated. Children are able to spread the virus to others and experience potential long-term health consequences in the future.
Children 16 years old or older are allowed to get a COVID-19 vaccine!
- You can register them for an appointment at podvaccine.azdhs.gov.
Children between the ages of 12 and 15 years old may be eligible to receive a Pfizer vaccination very soon!
- Clinical trials need to be conducted on younger children to assess the safety and how well the vaccines work for this age group.
Children younger than 12 are awaiting results of vaccine trials currently underway.
- Pfizer and Moderna are in the process of conducting trials for children between 6 months and 11 years old. Johnson & Johnson also has plans to begin trials.
3. Testing Tips: What is an antibody test?
Antibody tests cannot diagnose COVID-19 in people, but rather show whether or not their body has been previously exposed to the virus. This is important because antibody testing gives an idea of how many people have had an exposure that mounted an immune response to the virus, which is especially helpful in identifying those who had the virus but were asymptomatic. For more information, review the answers to the questions below.
-
What are antibodies?
- When you are exposed to a pathogen, such as the COVID-19 virus, your immune system works to fight off the illness by producing antibodies. These antibodies are proteins that can help defend your body from germs by creating an immune response to the pathogen you were exposed to. That means if you are exposed to the same pathogen in the future, your body is likely to recognize it and fight it off quickly.
-
How do I get antibodies?
- You can develop antibodies through both a natural infection and through vaccination.
-
What is antibody testing?
- Antibody tests, also called serology tests, detect specific antibodies in the blood that are only made in response to a previous COVID-19 infection or through vaccination.
- A blood sample is taken for this test
-
What is the difference between an antibody and an antigen?
- These two terms sound very similar, but they have key differences. An antigen is a molecule that is present while someone has a current illness, while antibodies are proteins made in response to a previous illness.
- This means that antibodies take longer for the body to make after an exposure (roughly 10 to 14 days after symptoms began), versus antigens, which are already present in the body once someone is sick.
More on antibody testing and vaccinations is coming soon! Be sure to check back on our updates for more information.
The next update will cover more information on antibody testing. If you would like to learn more about this and other topics related to COVID-19 in Arizona, please complete next week’s AZCOVIDTXT survey that you will receive via text in about a week.