Arizona COVID-19 updates: Tucson Medical Center cancels elective surgeries through Jan. 4

A nurse in New York City was among the first people in the United States to receive the first dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine on Monday morning. Shipments were arriving across the country, with the first boxes arriving in Arizona.

• Pima County Health Department director tests positive for COVID-19
• Arizona reports 4,848 new COVID-19 cases, 108 deaths
• Governor expected to tour Phoenix vaccine site
• White Mountain Apache Tribe chairwoman among first to receive vaccine
• FDA authorizes nation's first at-home, over-the-counter COVID-19 test
• CVS will play key role in COVID-19 vaccine rollout
• Tucson Medical Center cancels elective surgeries starting Monday

Follow coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic by Republic and USA TODAY Network reporters here.

6:30 p.m.: Tucson Medical Center cancels elective surgeries through Jan. 4

Tucson Medical Center, one of Tucson’s largest hospitals, said it will cancel elective surgeries until Jan. 4 starting Monday, according to Julia Strange, a spokesperson for the hospital.

The Arizona Daily Star reported on Sunday that in a letter to employees, Chief Operating Officer Mimi Coomler and Chief Medical Officer Amy Beiter said they were halting elective surgeries “to address the constrained nursing, clinical and medical staff.”

In addition, the medical center was unable to accommodate 80 direct admission requests in the past week, according to Strange. 

Last week, Pima County set a record for the number of new COVID-19 cases in a day, according to the Arizona Department of Health Services COVID-19 dashboard, adding 1,299 new cases on Dec. 14. The county has had nearly 60,000 known cases of the novel coronavirus throughout the pandemic, according to the dashboard.

Hospitalizations in Arizona also on Thursday hit the highest level recorded since the pandemic began.

Tucson is currently under curfew until Dec. 23 from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. to fight the surge in COVID-19 cases.

— Audrey Jensen

4 p.m.: Lawmakers reach 'bipartisan breakthrough,' announce $900 billion COVID-19 relief deal, will vote next

Congressional leaders said Sunday that they reached a deal on a nearly $900 billion COVID-19 relief package that includes individual checks, loans to small businesses and benefits to the unemployed struggling with the fallout of the pandemic.  

"Moments ago, the four leaders of the Senate and the House finalized an agreement. It will be another major rescue package for the American people," Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., announced on the Senate floor.

McConnell, hailing the "bipartisan breakthrough," said the bill's text must be finalized and, barring any "last-minute obstacles," pass the House and Senate before President Donald Trump can sign it into law.

The measure, which Trump is likely to sign, would establish a temporary $300-per-week supplemental jobless benefit (less than the $600 provided under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act passed in March) and $600 direct payments to most Americans (less than the $1,200 checks approved in the spring).

— Nicholas Wu and Ledyard King/USA TODAY

3 p.m. Sunday: Police, firefighters, teachers will be next in line for vaccine

Police, firefighters, teachers and grocery workers will be among those next in line for a COVID-19 vaccine, a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advisory panel decided Sunday.

The committee voted 13-1 to recommend that Phase 1b include people 75 and older and front-line essential workers. Phase 1c will include people 65 to 74 and people 16 to 64 who have high-risk medical conditions, along with other essential workers.

"My hope is that these short-term recommendations will support efficiency and equity in every phase of vaccination until we can get to the time when all individuals have access to safe and effective vaccines in the U.S. and worldwide," said Dr. Grace Lee, a professor of pediatrics at Stanford University School of Medicine and committee member.

The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices began its deliberations Sunday morning and spent the day discussing who would follow front-line health care workers and people in long-term care facilities in receiving vaccines, a second phase that could begin in February. The committee is responsible for recommending who gets what vaccines when.

— Elizabeth Weise/USA TODAY

2 p.m. Sunday: As Chinle becomes a Navajo Nation COVID-19 hotspot, the young volunteer to protect elders

Young volunteers (often led by Indigenous women) are ramping up efforts in and around Chinle in early December to safeguard their communities, particularly Navajo elders. Revered as gatekeepers of cultural history and traditional teachings, Navajo elders were dying at three times the rate they were contracting COVID-19. 

"Tribal communities are incredibly familial and elders often play a very strong role and have a strong presence in the lives of our young people," said Ethel Branch, founder of the Navajo and Hopi Families COVID-19 Relief Fund that's helped nearly 200,000 Navajo and Hopi people during the pandemic. 

"They are the keepers of our knowledge, our traditions and our language, and we look to them to transmit their wisdom and pass forward our identity as Native people through educating the younger generations."

At one point in May, the Navajo Nation had the highest infection rate in the country but by September brought its new daily cases down to zero. However, as the holiday season arrived, cases appeared to reach their even higher levels causing shortages in medical supplies, staff and hospital beds and leading to more weekend lockdowns through Dec. 28. 

As of Friday, the Chinle service area had the tribe's highest number of identified COVID-19 cases, totaling 3,950. At 1,446 cases per 10,000 residents, it also had the third highest infection rate out of the tribe's eight service areas, according to the Navajo Nation's COVID-19 dashboard. 

— Chelsea Curtis

10 a.m. Sunday: Arizona reports 5,366 new COVID-19 cases, 34 deaths

Arizona reported more than 5,300 new COVID-19 cases and 34 new known deaths on Sunday as hospitalizations for the disease dropped slightly, a day after reaching the highest levels recorded since the pandemic began.

The state data dashboard shows 91% of all ICU beds and 92.5% of all inpatient beds in Arizona were in use Saturday, with 50% of ICU beds and 46% of non-ICU beds occupied by COVID-19 patients.

The number of patients hospitalized statewide for known or suspected COVID-19 cases was at 3,899 on Saturday, a drop from the 4,014 record high reported on Friday. The highest number of COVID-19 patients hospitalized in a single day during the summer surge was 3,517 on July 13.

Arizona's average rate of new cases in the past week, at 95.9 cases per 100,000 people, ranks among the highest in the nation, behind only Tennessee, Texas, Oklahoma and California, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's COVID Data Tracker. The national average for new cases in the past week was 73 cases per 100,000 people. 

Sunday's 5,366 new cases brought the total number of identified COVID-19 cases in the state to 453,597.

— Chelsea Curtis

1:45 p.m. Saturday: Arizona receives nearly 30,000 less vaccines than expected

The Arizona Department of Health Services confirmed the state is one of many around the country that did not get the expected allocation of Pfizer vaccines for the week of Dec. 20.

The state expected to order 70,200 doses of the vaccine for the week but was only able to order 41,925.

ADHS spokesman Steve Elliot wrote in an email the department had asked the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for an explanation for the difference and was awaiting a response.

The department anticipates receiving 119,400 Moderna vaccine doses between Monday and Wednesday. Of those, Maricopa County will receive 18,500 and Pima County will receive 17,000, Elliot said.

The CDC Long Term Care Facility/Pharmacy Partnership has been allocated 37,300 Moderna doses from those available the week of Dec. 20.

Residents and staff in skilled nursing facilities will start the week of Dec. 27, Elliot said.

Dignity Health announced that a designated group of its frontline health care workers would begin receiving the COVID-19 vaccine at its vaccination site at Chandler Gilbert Community College on Monday. 

The site is one of five Points of Dispensing, or PODs, designated across the county to streamline the vaccine distribution.

— BrieAnna J. Frank

Noon Saturday: States are receiving less vaccine than promised. We now know why.

In the first major hiccup of the rollout of the coronavirus vaccine, states this week found themselves scrambling to adjust as they received word they would get between 20% and 40% less vaccine next week than they had been told as late as Dec. 9. 

States were given estimates that turned out to be based on vaccine doses produced, not those that had completed quality control and were releasable.Only on Wednesday and later were states informed of the actual numbers.

"The ripple effect is huge," said Claire Hannan, executive director of the Association of Immunization Managers. "The planning piece is critical. We cannot roll this vaccine out on the fly."

After three days of confusion, the source of the problem was finally clarified Friday night by Gov. Jay Inslee of Washington state. He tweeted he'd had a "very productive" conversation with Gen. Gustave Perna, chief operating officer for Operation Warp Speed, the administration's COVID-19 treatment and vaccine program.

"That discrepancy was the source of the change in allocations," Inslee tweeted. "It appears this is not indicative of long-term challenges with vaccine production." 

During a news conference Saturday morning, Perna explained that he had not taken into consideration the time it would take for completed vaccine to go through the full Food and Drug Administration quality control process, which can take 48 hours.

Perna apologized to governors, saying it was entirely his fault.

"At the end of the day, I accept responsibility for the miscommunication," he said.

10 a.m. Saturday: Arizona reports 5,560 new COVID cases 118 deaths as hospitalizations hit new record

Arizona reported more than 5,500 new COVID-19 cases and 118 new known deaths on Saturday as hospitalizations for the disease hit the highest level recorded since the pandemic began.

The state data dashboard shows 92% of all ICU beds and 92% of all inpatient beds in Arizona were in use Friday, with 53% of ICU beds and 47% of non-ICU beds occupied by COVID-19 patients.

The number of patients hospitalized statewide for known or suspected COVID-19 cases was at 4,014 on Friday, a record high. The highest number of COVID-19 patients hospitalized in a single day during the summer surge was 3,517 on July 13.

Arizona's average rate of new cases in the past week, at 94.6 cases per 100,000 people, ranks among the highest in the nation, behind only Tennessee, Oklahoma, Rhode Island and California, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's COVID Data Tracker. The national average for new cases in the past week in 66.1 cases per 100,000 people.

Saturday's 5,560 new cases brought the total number of identified COVID-19 cases in the state to 448,231. As of Saturday, 7,937 Arizonans are known to have died from the disease, according to the data dashboard from the Arizona Department of Health Services. One hundred and eighteen known deaths were reported Friday.

6 p.m. Friday: FDA authorizes Moderna vaccine, the second allowed for emergency use

Americans will soon have access to a second COVID-19 vaccine.

Stephen Hahn, commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, granted emergency authorization Friday to a vaccine made by Moderna, a week after giving similar clearance to one made by Pfizer and its German collaborator, BioNTech.

His is "authorizing" rather than approving the vaccine, because longer-term research is needed to meet the full standards for approval, which officials don't want to wait for during the public health emergency.

The move comes a day after the U.S. reported its 17 millionth case of COVID-19 and an independent advisory committee reviewed data from human trials of Moderna's mRNA-1273 vaccine, deciding its benefits outweighed its risks. The vaccine, according to a trial that included 30,000 volunteers, protected more than 94% of recipients from active disease, without causing major safety concerns.

Trucks will begin moving the vaccine this weekend, with the first of 5.9 million already manufactured Moderna shots expected to be given on Monday.

12:30 p.m. Friday: Banner-University Medical Center Phoenix has exceeded morgue capacity

A refrigerated truck is being used as a makeshift morgue at Banner-University Medical Center Phoenix because of increased COVID-19 deaths, Banner Health's chief clinical officer Dr. Marjorie Bessel said.

"COVID-19 deaths in Arizona are on the rise. These deaths have caused us to exceed our morgue capacity at some of our hospitals, which has resulted in the use of refrigerated trucks to expand our morgue capacity."

One of the trucks is currently in use at Banner-University Medical Center Phoenix and another is at a Banner storage facility on standby, she said.

"Here in Arizona unfortunately we continue to experience exponential growth of the virus, with total cases, positivity rates and hospitalization rates all rising."

— Stephanie Innes

Noon Friday: First 1,000 vaccinations went well, Maricopa County says

About 1,000 COVID-19 vaccines were administered to front-line health care workers and first responders Thursday as Maricopa County opened its first two distribution sites. Those vaccinations continued Friday.

County public health director Marcy Flanagan said all went smoothly Thursday but the sites started below capacity to make sure the system worked well.

Additional appointments will be added in the coming days at the two locations that opened Thursday — in the central and northeast parts of the county run by Banner and HonorHealth — with three more distribution sites expected to launch Monday.

Eligible workers in Phase 1A can sign up online to get prescreened for an appointment time.

Flanagan said “tens of thousands of people” have been prescreened and appointment notification depends on factors like “risk of exposure, age, chronic conditions, occupation, work setting, location you are assigned, the amount of demand and the appointment availability.”

She asked for patience and said the process will move faster as more doses arrive and more distribution sites and appointments open. The county may be able to administer up to 5,000 vaccinations daily once fully ramped up.

Eleven mild adverse reactions were reported from people vaccinated at the two sites Thursday, Flanagan said. Most were anxiety-related and “nothing that concerned us.”  

Flanagan said while the vaccine is a sign of hope, people need to continue with COVID-19 precautions as the county continues to report high case counts.

“This is a little bit of hope — a start to the next stage and we are one tiny step closer to life after COVID,” she said. “We have a little light and a little hope ahead, but have to keep our guard up until that light gets closer and brighter.”  

Maricopa County will update its vaccine webpage daily with the number of doses given and information on the phases.  

— Alison Steinbach

4:30 p.m.: Two Tempe special education teachers hospitalized with COVID-19

Tempe Union High School District said in a letter to families on Thursday that two special education teachers are hospitalized with COVID-19 after coming in contact with a student who tested positive.

"Two of our special education teachers have been hospitalized this past week with COVID, seven special education paraprofessionals are currently quarantined because a special education student that was positive came to school for in-person instruction and one of our Student Services Coordinators was very sick from COVID," the statement said.

Tempe Union returned to online-only instruction on Nov. 30 due to rising case counts but continued to offer on-site support services for special needs or high-risk students, in compliance with Gov. Doug Ducey’s executive order requiring schools offer in-person support for students with disabilities, English-language learners, children in foster care and more.

It also referenced that Apache Junction Unified School District special education teacher Jane Kelly died Dec. 5 from complication of COVID-19. Kelly “was a retired educator when she started working with special education children” in 2012, according to a statement from that district.

Tempe Union will now require “a minimum of a two week quarantine from in-person instruction for special education students after our Holiday Break.”

The district plans to update families on Jan. 8 and said the earliest kids may be returning to in-person instruction is Jan. 18.

— Kaila White

3:30 p.m. Thursday: Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine set to become the second cleared by FDA for use in US

An advisory committee to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has given a thumbs-up to the nation's second COVID-19 vaccine.

The independent Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee voted 20-0 with one abstention to support mRNA-1273, a vaccine made in collaboration with the U.S. government by Moderna, a decade-old Cambridge, Massachusetts-based biotechnology company.

"There's no doubt in my mind — it looks like the benefits outweigh the risks from what I've seen," said Dr. Steven Pergam, a committee member and infectious disease and vaccine expert at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, expressing the group's consensus.

"What a remarkable scientific achievement this is," added Dr. James Hildreth, a committee member, immunologist and president and CEO of Meharry Medical College in Nashville, Tennessee. "To go from having a sequence of a virus in January to having two vaccines available in December is a remarkable achievement."

FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn could officially authorize the vaccine as soon as late Thursday, with delivery to begin nationwide on Monday.

Unlike the vaccine the FDA authorized last week, made by Pfizer and its German collaborator BioNTech, the Moderna one will be approved for use only in adults. Moderna recently expanded its research trial to teenagers, but they have not been enrolled long enough to draw conclusions.

— Karen Weintraub/USA TODAY

3 p.m. Thursday: Leaders of major Arizona health groups ask governor for more aggressive actions, including ban on indoor dining

Leaders of six major medical and public health groups in Arizona on Thursday asked Gov. Doug Ducey to take more aggressive action against the spread of COVID-19, including banning indoor dining.

"The nationwide shortage of nurses and doctors is greatly complicating hospitals’ ability to add the staff needed statewide to respond to this new surge," the letter says. "Moreover, there have been times during the past several days when hospitals had great difficulty transferring patients out, further jeopardizing care."

For the next six to eight weeks, the medical leaders want Ducey to:

• Close bars and nightclubs. These could be reopened earlier if the state returns to moderate community spread, the letter says.
• Limit restaurant operations to outside dining and take-out service. The restrictions could be lifted earlier if the state returns to moderate community spread, the letter says.
• Except for essential services, limit public gatherings to no more than 25 people. Encourage people only to socialize with members of the same household.
• Implement a statewide and enforceable face covering mandate that focuses on business compliance rather than individuals.

Those who signed the letter include Ann-Marie Alameddin, president and chief executive officer for the Arizona Hospital and Healthcare Association; Libby McDannell, chief executive officer for the Arizona Medical Association; Lee Ann Kelley, president of the Maricopa County Medical Society; Marialena Murphy, board president of the Arizona Organization of Nurse Leaders; Josephine Zammuto, executive director of the Arizona Osteopathic Medical Association; and Will Humble, executive director of the Arizona Public Health Association.

"We do not make these requests lightly. We know there is deep-seated opposition to some of these recommendations. And there are negative economic consequences to others, which have a down-stream impact on public health," the letter says.

"However, we believe urgent action is needed on a temporary basis to protect the immediate fragility of the healthcare delivery system and the long-term health of our workforce."

— Stephanie Innes

Noon Thursday: Vaccinations begin for health care workers at fairgrounds site

Emily Beck came off the night shift at Banner University Medical Center in Phoenix, where she’s an ICU nurse, and joined the line on Thursday to get one of Maricopa County’s first COVID-19 vaccine doses.

“I'm just hopeful that this is the beginning of the end,” Beck said.

She received the first shots at the Arizona State Fairgrounds, one of a handful of sites administering the vaccines to health care workers in the first phase of its rollout.

White tents collected cars outside an agricultural building at the fair site, with a parking lot full of bright green safety cones behind them. The cars then drove through the building, where a team of people prepared the vaccine, filled out paperwork and administered shots.

The fairgrounds site became a COVID-19 testing drive-thru in March and will provide vaccines to about 1,000 people per day once it’s fully ramped up. The first day, the site was expected to give about 165 shots.

Dr. Marjorie Bessel, the chief clinical officer for Banner, administered the shot to Beck and other health care workers on the first day. She said she wanted to show recognition of their hard work and show that she believes the vaccine is safe and effective.

“I think this is another testament that we feel confident about the vaccine,” said Bessel, who was wearing a festive dress with candy canes, holly and evergreens.

The festive mood was shared by Marcy Flanagan, the director of public health for Maricopa County, who witnessed the first shots on Thursday morning. It “feels like Christmas to me,” she said. When the vaccines arrived on Monday, she felt relief, her tense shoulders easing for the first time in months.

— Rachel Leingang

11 a.m. Thursday: Phase 1A vaccinations begin at HonorHealth site

HonorHealth launched its drive-thru vaccination site on Thursday morning as part of Maricopa County’s rollout of Phase 1A COVID-19 vaccinations for health care workers.

Two vaccination sites opened Thursday in the county — one run by HonorHealth in the northeast and the other run by Banner Health at the state fairgrounds.

Jenae McVicker, 32, a critical care nursing educator at HonorHealth Deer Valley Medical Center, was one of the first to get the vaccine. She moved through the drive-thru after a Scottsdale Fire Department vehicle with several first responders who got vaccinated.

McVicker said as a critical care nurse on the front lines, she’s been long looking forward to a vaccine. But it still didn’t really hit her until she got in line and realized she was among the first handful of people in Maricopa County to be vaccinated.  

“It’s surreal. To wake up this morning and know that you’re going to be part of history is not something I ever imagined,” she said.  

She hopes her vaccination can serve as an example to others.

“I think part of being a nurse is being a leader with your community and within your own personal practice. Sharing my experience with people … especially nurses on the front line, if anybody’s on the fence, I hope that they’re able to see the benefits of vaccination and how this can really positively impact us.”

Thursday morning saw a steady stream of cars in the drive-thru, and logistics seemed to run smoothly from registration to vaccination to a 15-minute observation. HonorHealth practiced dry runs of the event a few times earlier this month.

The HonorHealth site received its first shipment of about 10,000 Pfizer vaccine doses on Monday and expects an additional delivery of about 5,000 doses next week.

The site will vaccinate HonorHealth employees, Mayo Clinic employees and those who were part of the county’s registration system. These include fire and ambulance workers, first responders and community health employees who see COVID-19 patients.

Only those priority workers who are prescreened and preregistered can get vaccinated at the site.

— Alison Steinbach

Noon Wednesday: Front-line workers to receive some of the first COVID-19 doses in Phoenix today

Front-line health care workers will receive some of the first doses of the COVID-19 vaccine in Arizona at 5 p.m. Wednesday, state and Maricopa County health officials announced.

State health director Dr. Cara Christ will be joined by a diverse group of front-line workers who will receive the vaccine at the Arizona State Public Health Laboratory, state officials said.

— Stephanie Innes

11:30 a.m. Wednesday: Maricopa County to begin vaccinations Thursday

Maricopa County will begin vaccinating health care workers at two locations in the county on Thursday morning. Three additional “point of dispensing” sites will open next week.

The county received about 18,000 Pfizer doses Monday and an additional 25,000 doses Tuesday, according to Marcy Flanagan, the county's public health director.

Eligible health care providers who see COVID-19 patients, environmental services staff who clean facilities and emergency medical services workers are getting appointments based on exposure and risk. Pre-screening began on Friday for the first appointments at the two sites, Flanagan said.

While some vaccinations took place Tuesday at the Phoenix VA Health Care System, that was through a federal allocation rather than the state or county batches, Flanagan said. The official county rollout of Phase 1A is Thursday morning.

“It’s just that small light at the end of the tunnel, but Monday felt like the first time there was a lot of hope in the room and excitement,” she said. “It’s that moment of hope but also pause to realize we need to stay vigilant. We know our health care partners are seeing some of the highest numbers we’ve seen since the beginning of the pandemic, our daily case count has increased significantly, so now’s the time to stay vigilant.”

— Alison Steinbach

11:15 a.m. Wednesday: Pima County Health Dept. director tests positive for COVID-19

Pima County Health Department Director Dr. Theresa Cullen has tested positive for COVID-19 as part of an apparent outbreak in her department, county officials announced.

The department outbreak involves 11 employees, county officials said. Several others who had close contacts with the positive employees were asked to isolate at home for at least 10 days, officials said, and were advised to get tested.

County officials say Cullen tested positive on Tuesday. Testing is being offered to all health department staff who work at the headquarters in Tucson.

Staff will either be moved to alternative work locations or they will work from home while the affected floors are sanitized, a county news release states.

“This just goes to prove that when there is substantial community spread of the virus like we’re experiencing now throughout the county, the virus can get into your homes and places of work any number of ways no matter how vigilant you are being with your precautions,” County Chief Medical Officer Dr. Francisco Garcia said in a written statement.

“We require mask wearing at the health department and staying home when sick. However, when people can spread the virus before they show symptoms or when completely asymptomatic, outbreaks can happen anywhere."

County officials say case investigators and contact tracers are working to track down the sources of the outbreak. Garcia said there was a protest of Health Department COVID-19 enforcement actions on Dec. 10 and few of the protesters were wearing masks.

Pima County Administrator Chuck Huckelberry told the Board of Supervisors this week that more than 300 of the roughly 7,000 county employees have contracted COVID-19 since the outbreak began in February, with more than 60 of them, or about 20%, in the past two weeks.

— Stephanie Innes

10:45 a.m. Wednesday: Arizona reports 4,848 new COVID-19 cases, 108 deaths

Arizona reported more than 4,800 new COVID-19 cases and 108 new known deaths on Wednesday as hospitalizations for the disease hit the highest level recorded since the pandemic began. 

The number of patients hospitalized statewide for known or suspected COVID-19 cases was at 3,809 on Tuesday, a record high. The highest number of COVID-19 patients hospitalized in a single day during the summer surge was 3,517 on July 13.

The state data dashboard shows 91% of all ICU beds and 92% of all inpatient beds in Arizona were in use Tuesday, with 51% of ICU beds and 45% of non-ICU beds occupied by COVID-19 patients.

Arizona's average rate of new cases in the past week ranks among the highest in the nation, behind only Oklahoma, Tennessee and Rhode Island, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In general, the pandemic is worsening both statewide and nationally, and public health experts expect the virus to spread further because of Thanksgiving and upcoming holidays.

A report released Nov. 19 by Arizona State University predicted that hospital capacity in Arizona will be exceeded in December and that, without additional public health measures, holiday gatherings are likely to cause 600 to 1,200 additional deaths from COVID-19 in Arizona by Feb. 1 beyond current-scenario death projections.

Wednesday's 4,848 new cases brought the total number of identified COVID-19 cases in the state to 429,219. As of Wednesday, 7,530 Arizonans are known to have died from the disease, according to the data dashboard from the Arizona Department of Health Services. 108 new known deaths were reported Wednesday. 

The state on Monday reported the second-highest daily tally of new cases since the start of the pandemic, with 11,795 new COVID-19 cases, shy only of last Tuesday's 12,314 reported cases. 

— Alison Steinbach

9:45 a.m. Wednesday: Governor expected to tour Phoenix vaccine site

Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey on Wednesday afternoon is expected to tour a COVID-19 vaccination site operated by Banner Health at the Arizona State Fairgrounds in Phoenix and hold a media briefing.

The governor will be joined by Dr. Cara Christ, director of the Arizona Department of Health Services, and others. He will tour the drive-through vaccination site, meet with health care staff manning the facility and make an announcement at 2:00 p.m.

— Stephanie Innes

9:45 p.m. Tuesday: White Mountain Apache Tribe chairwoman among first to receive vaccine

The chairwoman of the White Mountain Apache Tribe, Gwendena Lee-Gatewood, was among the first in Arizona to receive the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine. Lee-Gatewood posted a video of her getting the vaccine, and encouraged others to do so, on Facebook.

"Today, I got the Covid 19 Vaccine at the Whiteriver Service Unit alongside CEO Michelle Martinez. The shot only took a few seconds and I got it about an hour ago, my arm is a little sore," Lee-Gatewood said in her Facebook post. 

A three-week lockdown is currently in place on tribal lands, after the tribe's new COVID-19 cases reached their highest level since July in early December. The lockdown ends on Dec. 26.

8:30 p.m. Tuesday: FDA authorizes nation's first at-home, over-the-counter COVID-19 test

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday authorized the nation's first home COVID-19 test that doesn't need a lab or medical provider's prescription.

The test, made by Australia-based Ellume, can deliver results in about 15 minutes and will cost about $30. 

Advocates have called for authorization of home tests to alleviate the nation's testing crunch, which has stressed labs and delayed results for consumers and medical providers. The FDA has previously authorized tests allowing consumers to collect and send samples to a lab. Another home test, Abbott Laboratories BinaxNow, must be administered by a doctor or other provider.

The FDA authorized the Ellume tests for people age 2 and up, with or without symptoms.

Ellume's rapid antigen test includes a nasal swab for users to collect a sample and place into a cartridge. A smartphone app instructs consumers how to use the test and displays results. It allows results to be shared with a health provider.

7:30 p.m. Tuesday: CVS will play key role in COVID-19 vaccine rollout

As front-line health care workers in Rhode Island on Monday received the first doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, CVS Health fine-tuned its planning to offer it to residents and staff of long-term-care facilities as early as next Monday, Senior Vice President of Pharmacy Chris Cox told The Providence Journal in an interview.

Together with Walgreens, CVS was chosen by the federal government to provide the vaccines to nursing homes and other congregate-care facilities that provide extended residential care. In October, Cox said, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention asked facilities around the nation to state their preferences.

“The CDC sent out a survey to all the long-term care facilities in late October, and they were allowed to choose CVS or Walgreens or opt-out of the federal program and choose to work with a local provider to get their vaccinations,” Cox said. “Our understanding is that over 99% of facilities did opt-in to the federal program.”

According to Cox, “over 40,000 of them selected CVS Pharmacy.”

4 p.m. Tuesday: Maricopa County to begin vaccinating Thursday after receiving vaccines on Monday

Although Maricopa County received its first doses of the Pfizer vaccine Monday, vaccinations will not begin at county-partnered sites until Thursday.

That’s because while some states received “pre-positioned vaccine” prior to the FDA’s Emergency Use Authorization, Arizona was not one of them, according to the county.

A county spokesperson said vaccines were already positioned in some vaccination locations prior to the EUA, but Arizona had to wait for shipment after the EUA was issued.

Maricopa County did not have advance notice of the vaccine arrival, so it set Thursday or Friday as tentative start dates for the first two dispensing sites in the center and northeast parts of the county.

“This allowed us to plan staffing, schedule volunteers, screen and schedule appointments for eligible people, and other logistics necessary for carrying out an effort of this level,” a county spokesperson wrote in an email. “Additionally while we anticipated vaccine arriving this week, we did not have exact numbers for the number of doses being shipped in time to determine if we had enough doses to open these PODs earlier.

Now that we know how many doses we are receiving this week, we can execute our plan for beginning the opening of PODs on Thursday.”

— Alison Steinbach

3 p.m. Tuesday: Veterans, front-line staff among first at Phoenix VA to get COVID-19 vaccine

Tim Schumacher didn’t feel any different – no soreness, nothing – after he got one of the first COVID-19 vaccines in Arizona on Tuesday.

But for him, the shot marked “the start of the end” for this pandemic.

A nurse at the Phoenix VA Health Care System, Schumacher was among a small group at the facility to get the Pfizer vaccine within hours of its arrival on Tuesday morning.

The facility is among 37 across the VA system nationwide to first receive the vaccine. Officials planned to vaccinate about 15 to 20 people at the Phoenix VA on Tuesday and eventually expand to about 150 people a day.

The first person to get a shot was a veteran living in extended care. The VA is prioritizing vaccines and at the top of the list are veterans living in congregate care settings as well as front-line staff who have seen the impacts of COVID-19 firsthand.

“Hopefully, now with this vaccine our bodies will fight it off and our ICU census will go down because we won’t have all these sick people in our community,” Schumacher said shortly after getting his shot, while holding a small card reminding him to return in 21 days for the second dose.

The Army veteran didn’t have any apprehension about being among the earliest recipients of a brand new vaccine, either.

“I trust the doctors and scientists we have in this country are the best in the world,” he said. “Look at all the other vaccines people have gotten in the past and are better today because of that.”

— Andrew Oxford

2 p.m. Tuesday: No COVID-19 cases among GCU faculty; ASU, NAU, UA positivity rates end low

Arizona State University and Grand Canyon University ended their fall terms with low COVID-19 positivity rates, recent data from each university shows.

The University of Arizona is wrapping up finals week with only two positive COVID-19 cases as of Sunday evening. 

A total of 30 cases were reported amongst students at Grand Canyon University as of Monday night. There are no cases reported among faculty at this time.

ASU: Positivity rate remains stable

Arizona State University ended the semester with low positivity rates among students and employees, the university's latest update shows.

Arizona State University reports a total of 422 positive cases considered active among its students, faculty and staff as of Dec. 14. Of these, 85 are employees and 337 are students.

Cases among employees have plateaued after peaking at 101 on Nov. 30. 

The school reports six more active cases among employees since its Dec. 7 update last week, which reported 78 active cases.

The university has reported a total of 3,752 cases since the start of the semester on Aug. 1. Students made up 3,478 of these cases and employees made up 274.

The university's overall positivity rate was approximately 2.3% through the end of the semester on Dec. 4. A positivity rate under 5% is considered an indication that the virus is under control.

GCU: Ending the semester with low numbers; 0 cases among faculty

Grand Canyon University is going into its last week of the fall semester with a total of 30 active COVID-19 cases among its students and no cases among faculty members.

This is the first point in at least two months that GCU has not reported an active case among faculty.

The total number of cases among the campus community has dropped by 60 within the last two weeks, compared with the total of 90 active cases reported on Dec. 2.

This update is the latest continuation of a declining trend in cases at GCU. Ever since surpassing the 1,000 mark in cases in late November, GCU has witnessed a stabilization in its number of active cases.

A positivity rate cannot be determined as GCU does not release the total number of tests administered. 

In a letter to its community on Dec. 7, GCU said this semester it found cases were not linked to physically distant classrooms and labs where it was mandatory to wear masks, or to ticketed events such as athletic games. 

"Through contact tracing, we are able to determine that the bulk of positive COVID cases are the result of off campus gatherings or friends congregating in residence halls without a mask and having less than six feet of physical distancing," the statement said. 

The school has reported a total of 1,410 positive cases over the course of the semester. Of these, 1,365 are students and 45 are employees. The fall term ends Dec. 20.

UA: Positive case decrease remains relatively consistent

The University of Arizona is wrapping up finals week with only two positive COVID-19 cases as of Sunday evening, the university's dashboard shows.

UA hit its peak the week of Sept. 13 with 880 positive cases, but has since seen a stabilized decrease. From the week of Sept. 27 through Nov. 22, positive cases remained under 100.

However, cases shot back up to 130 on Nov. 29 and only fell to 107 the following week. 

Since the beginning of UA's testing period on Aug. 4, the university has administered 99,169 tests. Of those tests, UA reported a total of 3,002 positive cases, making the overall positivity rate 3%.

The fall term ends Dec. 17. 

NAU: Overall positivity rate of 4.5%

Northern Arizona University concluded its testing for the fall 2020 semester more than two weeks ago. The school has announced that testing will resume in January.

Over the course of the semester, NAU reported 1,530 positive results out of the total 33,882 administered from Sept. 2 up to the last day of classes on Nov. 24. This reflects an overall positivity rate of 4.5%.

— Salma Reyes and Jamie Landers

12:45 p.m. Tuesday: Health care workers on the Navajo Nation are receiving COVID vaccines

As health care workers across the country start getting the COVID-19 vaccine, officials at the Chinle Comprehensive Health Care Facility confirmed some of their workers received the shot on Monday and Tuesday and more will get vaccinated this week.

Dr. Eric Ritchie, the facility's chief medical officer, said it was a historic and very emotional day as they began to give people the vaccine.

"We're able to roll out a vaccine that is proven safe and effective to preventing the COVID-19 virus," Ritchie said during a virtual town hall meeting hosted by the Navajo Nation Office of the President and Vice President. "Our health care workers today are receiving that vaccine."

Ritchie thanked all the health care workers who have been working tirelessly across the Navajo Nation to deal with the pandemic.

"There is now hope that we can beat this virus on Navajo and that we can successfully roll out a vaccine," he added. 

The first health care worker from Chinle to receive the vaccine was Ronald Begay. He received the vaccination at the facility on Monday. 

Begay said he was fortunate to be the first to take the vaccine. He talked about how it's a great opportunity because the vaccine has been talked about globally, but now it's on the Navajo Nation.

"People should ask themselves what their priorities are," he said. "The choice is yours." 

During the virtual town hall meeting, Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez spoke from the Chinle facility and provided updates about the vaccine distribution. 

"We as leaders, we advocate for the vaccine for our people,"  Nez said.

During the town hall meeting, Nez introduced Dr. Jill Mose, the director of public health at the Chinle facility.

"I am grateful that we have received the vaccine (Monday) and we started vaccinating people (Monday)," Moses said. "I feel like that is the first step toward seeing a return toward normal life."

Moses said the facility is prioritizing health care workers on the front lines because they're the ones who work directly with patients. They plan to take the vaccine to the local nursing home for the staff and residents on Friday. 

The Navajo Nation received 3,900 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, which have been distributed to several health care facilities by officials with the Navajo Area Indian Health Service. 

Those vaccines will cover health care workers, emergency medical staff, traditional practitioners working in Indian Health Service facilities, tribal facilities, and the staff and patients in long-term nursing facilities, according to Dr. Loretta Christensen, the chief medical officer for the Navajo Area Indian Health Service. 

The pandemic has at times overwhelmed the Navajo Nation, which earlier this year had the highest infection rate per capita. The daily number of COVID-19 positive cases has risen sharply during the latest wave of the virus, according to data from the Navajo Nation Department of Health.

Other health care workers have been vaccinated as well. The Indian Health Service shared two photos on its Facebook page showing two health care workers from the Crownpoint Health Care Facility receiving the vaccine. 

In the post, the service said U.S. Public Health Service Lt. Kali Autrey, who is a pharmacist at the Crownpoint Health Care Facility, was the first Indian Health Service employee to receive a COVID-19 vaccine there on Monday.

The second person was U.S. Public Health Service Capt. Jefferson Fredy. Fredy is a citizen of the Navajo Nation and the chief of pharmacy at the Crownpoint Health Care Facility. 

— Shondiin Silversmith

11:30 a.m. Tuesday: Phoenix VA to start vaccinations on Tuesday

The Phoenix VA Health Care System said it plans to start vaccinating its front-line health care employees and veterans on Tuesday.

The system is one of 37 VA sites around the country that were selected as the initial sites because they can vaccinate large numbers of people and have available ultra-cold storage, the Phoenix VA said in a press release.

The vaccinations are not available to the general public. There are multiple phases first, starting with health care workers and those in congregate care settings.

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs has its own vaccine plan and distribution process.

The Navajo Nation also plans to start vaccinations on Tuesday after receiving its first allotment of vaccines on Monday.

The Navajo Nation and Phoenix VA would be the first Arizona vaccinations. Hospitals in Maricopa County plan to start vaccinations later this week.

— Rachel Leingang

10 a.m. Tuesday: Arizona reports 4,134 new COVID-19 cases, 64 deaths

Arizona reported about 4,100 new COVID-19 cases and 64 new known deaths on Tuesday as hospitalizations for the disease hit the highest level recorded since the pandemic began. 

The number of patients hospitalized statewide for known or suspected COVID-19 cases was at 3,702 on Monday, a record high. The highest number of COVID-19 patients hospitalized in a single day during the summer surge was 3,517 on July 13.

The state data dashboard shows 91% of all ICU beds and 90% of all inpatient beds in Arizona were in use Monday, with 49% of ICU beds and 43% of non-ICU beds occupied by COVID-19 patients.

Arizona's average rate of new cases in the past week ranks among the highest in the nation, behind only Rhode Island, Tennessee, Ohio, Indiana and North Dakota, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In general, the pandemic is worsening both statewide and nationally, and public health experts expect the virus to spread further because of Thanksgiving and upcoming holidays.

A report released Nov. 19 by ASU predicted that hospital capacity in Arizona will be exceeded in December and that, without additional public health measures, holiday gatherings are likely to cause 600 to 1,200 additional deaths from COVID-19 in Arizona by Feb. 1 beyond current-scenario death projections.

Tuesday's 4,134 new cases brought the total number of identified COVID-19 cases in the state to 424,382. As of Tuesday, 7,422 Arizonans are known to have died from the disease, according to the data dashboard from the Arizona Department of Health Services. Sixty-four new known deaths were reported Tuesday. 

The state on Monday reported the second-highest daily tally of new cases since the start of the pandemic, with 11,795 new COVID-19 cases, shy only of last Tuesday's 12,314 reported cases. 

— Alison Steinbach

7 p.m.: Navajo Nation receives first shipment of COVID-19 vaccine

As the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccines roll out across the U.S. this week, the Navajo Nation received its first doses Monday and plans to administer them to health care workers starting Tuesday.

The pandemic has at times overwhelmed the Navajo Nation, which earlier this year had the highest infection rate per capita. The daily number of COVID-19 positive cases has risen sharply during the latest wave of the virus, according to data from the Navajo Nation Department of Health.

On Monday, Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez and Vice President Myron Lizer visited the Gallup Indian Medical Center as the Navajo Area IHS received the first shipment of the vaccines. 

The Gallup facility has the appropriate ultra freeze technology necessary to keep the vaccine safe.

The shipment contained the first of an expected 3,900 doses of the vaccine on the way this week, said Dr. Loretta Christensen, the chief medical officer for the Navajo area Indian Health Service. About 7,900 doses of the Moderna vaccine would arrive the following week, pending emergency use approval by the federal government.

— Shondiin Silversmith

11:45 a.m.: HonorHealth receives doses at northeast Valley vaccination site

HonorHealth received its first shipment of about 10,000 vaccine doses midday Monday at the site where health care workers and priority individuals in the northeast part of Maricopa County will be vaccinated.

The vaccines were placed in storage in ultra-cold freezers inside a building next to the large parking lot where drive-thru vaccinations are set to begin Thursday.

The site is expected to receive an additional about 5,000 doses next week for a total of initial doses for 15,000 people.

“This is the beginning of the end,” said Dr. James Whitfill, an HonorHealth senior vice president and internal medicine doctor. “As a physician, I will tell you I’m very excited about this, because this vaccine works. We were willing to accept a vaccine that worked half of the time or a little bit more than half of the time, but 95% of the time this prevents an infection, and that is amazing news.”

HonorHealth and Maricopa County have had health care workers and other qualifying employees sign up through an electronic registration system that ranks them based on risk and COVID-19 exposure. The first priority group likely will start signing up for appointments today, Whitfill said.

First up will be health care workers who work in COVID-19 units with repeated exposures throughout the day, along with health care workers who are 65 or older or have high-risk health conditions, followed by people who work intermittently in COVID-19 units, then other health care workers who work with patients, and finally all health care workers, Whitfill said.

The HonorHealth site will vaccinate HonorHealth employees, Mayo Clinic employees and some others who were part of the county’s registration system. These include fire and ambulance workers, first responders and community health employees who see COVID-19 patients.

“This pandemic has brought me to tears on a couple of occasions. Sometimes tears of pain, but today I felt tears of joy, watching the end of this pandemic begin to unfold,” Whitfill said. “It’s a historic day.”

“It won’t be a magic bullet where overnight we suddenly go back to hosting parties and being unmasked, but it is the beginning of the end. It will be a day that we begin to look back and say, ‘This terrible pandemic ended with the beginning vaccinations here in December 2020.’”

Whitfill said HonorHealth will be planning “literally until the moment we launch” with the first drive-thru vaccinations on Thursday morning. The site has already practiced dry runs for the event.

“It’s a trade-off — we want to get this vaccine into people’s arms and get it into our community as fast as possible, but we want to do it in the safest and the most efficient way as well.”

— Alison Steinbach

9:45 a.m.: First shipment arrives in Arizona

The first shipment of COVID-19 vaccines arrived in Arizona on Monday morning, the Maricopa County Department of Public Health announced in a social media post.

Inoculations of health care workers in Arizona with the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine are expected to begin this week. The first shipments of the Pfizer vaccine went to Maricopa and Pima counties only.

Four boxes of vaccine were delivered to a Maricopa County Department of Public Health clinic in Phoenix about 9:20 a.m. The boxes then were transported to two PODS, or points of distribution, in other parts of the Valley, where they are being stored in a special freezer.

They will be used to vaccinate people in the first phase later this week.

There are five COVID-19 vaccine distribution sites for health care workers in the Valley and two in the Tucson area.

Maricopa County will receive about 47,000 doses and Pima County about 11,000 doses to begin vaccinating the first priority group of at-risk health care workers.

Arizona is expected to receive 384,350 COVID-19 vaccine doses by the end of December, which the state estimates should be enough to cover the first doses for the health care workers and long-term care residents who want to be vaccinated.

An algorithm was developed for prioritizing the health care workers who receive the vaccine, according to Pima County officials in a briefing held Monday morning.

The algorithm prioritizes health care workers with the most exposure to people with COVID-19, as well as those with underlying conditions that would put them at increased risk for getting ill from the virus, Pima County Health Department Director Dr. Theresa Cullen said.

She stressed that the vaccine distribution is a long-term endeavor.

"It will be months before we have adequate dosing available for everyone in the community," Cullen said.

— Stephanie Innes