Arizona vaccination rate for COVID passes 30% of population

PHOENIX (AP) — Arizona on Thursday reported 381 additional confirmed COVID-19 cases and 10 more deaths as the number of people who have received at least one dose of vaccine passed 30% of the state’s population.

The state’s pandemic totals increased to 842,192 cases and 16,977 deaths, according to the state’s coronavirus dashboard.

According to the dashboard, 2,166,000 people — or 30.1% of the state’s population — have received at least one dose, including 1,355,132 people who are fully vaccinated.

There were 604 COVID-19 patients occupying inpatient hospital beds as of Wednesday, the 12th day that the number of hospitalizations has hovered around 600, the dashboard indicated.

Seven-day rolling averages of daily new cases and daily deaths in Arizona dropped over the past two weeks, according to Johns Hopkins University data.

The rolling average of daily new cases dropped from 813.3 on March 16 to 566 on Tuesday while the rolling average of daily deaths dropped from 26 to 17.9 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.