Pima County has seen a surge in COVID-19 cases this month, with the number of weekly cases exceeding the amount observed in the county during summer 2020, with about 3,200 new cases reported each week.
This increase in cases comes right as Pima County opens up booster shot ability to all people above the age of 18. The University of Arizona currently offers booster shots at Campus Health for all eligible students and faculty.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have also approved booster shots for all Americans above the age of 18 on Friday, Nov. 19.
According to the Pima County Health Department Public Health Advisory Update, the number of positive COVID-19 cases has increased by approximately 30% over the past 30 days. Additionally, Pima County is witnessing an “acceleration of cases, with over 305 cases/100K as of November 11, 2021.”
UA President Dr. Robert C. Robbins and Dr. Richard Carmona, a professor of public health, pharmacy and surgery at the University of Arizona, discussed the surge in cases at the UA virtual university status update.
“I know that we all want to put this pandemic behind us, but we’re definitely not out of the woods yet. If we do not do the right things, the cost could be enormous,” Robbins said during the briefing.
Robbins urged UA students and faculty to “do the right things” to stop the spread of COVID-19 by wearing face coverings, getting vaccinated and maintaining social distance. As for the vaccine requirement for all UA employees, the deadline for proof of vaccination is Jan. 18. Robbins in the meantime hopes to reach out to employees still hesitant to receive the vaccine.
“We’re going to work with everyone because we want everyone to be protected. But we want everyone to be working as well because we need you. We need you at the university,” Robbins said during the weekly briefing.
The University of Arizona continues to offer free COVID-19 vaccinations and booster shots at Campus Health as well as free on-campus testing. A new addition to this is the Cats TakeAway Testing program which allows students to pick up a testing kit and drop it off at one of the many takeaway testing locations.
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