What You Need to Know-Week of February 21st
The most important weekly updates for you to keep your community healthy
In this Update:
1. Urgent Updates: COVID-19 Metrics
2. Quick Question: Should I receive a third vaccine (booster) if I recently had COVID?
3. Community Feedback survey results
1. Urgent Updates: COVID-19 Metrics
Updated as of: 02-22-2022
Weekly case, death, and hospitalization counts
| In the past week, there has been an average of: | |
| Cases per day | 2,460 |
| Deaths per day | 63 |
| Compared to two weeks ago: | |
| Cases per day | Decreased by 71% ↓ |
| Deaths per day | Decreased by 3% ↓ |
| Hospitalizations per day | Decreased by 41% ↓ |
See breakdown of vaccination by Arizona counties
See updated vaccine information and data in Arizona
2. Quick Question: Should I receive a booster vaccine if I recently had COVID?
Yes, you should receive a booster vaccine (a third dose for those who received mRNA or Pfizer, and a second for those who received J&J) if you have not already, even if you recently contracted COVID-19! And if you are age 12 and older and immunocompromised, you should receive a 4th dose of the mRNA vaccine.
Most people (99%) who are contracting COVID-19 at this time are contracting the Omicron variant. We still do not know a lot about the immunity provided from a natural infection caused by the Omicron variant, and much more is known about the immunity provided by vaccinations, including the booster. As of right now, it is recommended to err on the side of caution and get the protection provided by a booster dose. New evidence suggests that the booster dose can effectively reduce symptom presentation and the risk of severe disease and death.
A reminder from the AZCOVIDTXT team. Individuals who are exposed to someone with COVID should be vigilant about wearing a well-fitting mask for the duration of the two-week post-exposure period. Even if you have very mild symptoms after an exposure (i.e. scratchy throat, nausea or diarrhea, etc.) find a home test to see if you are positive. Omicron is very transmissible and many people, especially those who have had recent booster shots, may present with mild illness that may not seem like COVID. [Personal experience from Dr. Ernst’s household!] Testing within that 2 week window is especially important if you are heading to visit vulnerable individuals who may be unvaccinated, elderly or immunocompromised. When in doubt, wait it out.
A person is allowed to receive a booster dose after their isolation period ends, as long as they do not have a fever and their other symptoms are improving. If someone is still experiencing symptoms following their isolation period, it is best to wait until these symptoms resolve before getting the booster dose.
3. Community Feedback survey results
We at AZCOVIDTXT wanted to thank you again for participating in our community feedback survey. These surveys help us better understand how to improve our service to fit your needs. We wanted to share some of the results of the survey with our subscribers.
Here is a brief summary of your responses:
- Your main concerns related to COVID-19 were:
- Loved ones or yourself contracting COVID-19New SARS-CoV-2 variantsThe long term impacts of COVID-19
- You want to focus on providing information about:
- COVID-19 science and data (e.g., cases, hospitalizations, etc.)Arizona-specific COVID-19 data Arizona-specific resources (e.g., heath, financial, etc.)
- You would like AZCOVIDTXT to start providing information about:
- Emerging health issues within Arizona, other than COVID-19 (e.g., West Nile virus, which we know has been a very significant problem this year). One of our team, Dr. Ernst, is very interested in mosquito-borne illnesses, so stay tuned!Environmental health topics (e.g., air pollution, climate change, extreme heat)General mental health topics (e.g., stress, anxiety, sleep etc.)
We will be working diligently over the coming months to make improvements to our service. Thank you all!
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.