Advertisement: Huckelberry said last week saw some easing of pressure in county hospitals, with a 15 percent drop in COVID patients and a total of 633 COVID patients in local hospital beds. While the number of Intensive Care Unit beds in use had dropped by 6 percent, only 20 ICU beds, or 5 percent of total capacity, remained available as of Friday. A total of 216 COVID patients were in ICU beds (accounting for 60 percent of ICU beds). Nearly two-thirds of ventilators in use 63 percent were by COVID patients.
Pima County rolling out vaccinations Today, the county will open a vaccine site at the Kino Sports Complex. Vaccine administration, operated by Banner University Medicine, will take place in a drive-thru at the parking lot to the south of the stadium. The site is expected to provide 1,600 vaccinations per day, according to the county.
Registration opened for priority groups in phase 1B of COVID-19 vaccine rollouts Thursday, but according to the Pima County Health Department, all available appointments aimed at the 75+ population at the two Banner-operated vaccination sites and Tucson Medical Center have been âaccounted for through the registration process,â according to a press release from the health department.
More than 20,000 residents registered for appointments within the first two hours of the registration websiteâs opening, the release said.
The health department recognized this is âcausing frustrationâ for those still trying to receive appointments through the countyâs registration website, but said more appointments will be made available as it receives more allocated vaccine doses from the state.
With more than 11,000 new cases reported today, the number of Arizona’s confirmed novel coronavirus cases topped 658,000 as of Friday, Jan 15, according to the Arizona Department of Health