‘Triple endemic’ eases in Yuma County
Director encourages vaccines, boosters before end of COVID emergency declaration
The “triple endemic” in Yuma County is declining, with a 33% drop in flu cases and the COVID-19 positivity rate dipping from 25% to 9%.
“Our positivity rate is decreasing. We’ve seen a decrease in our flu cases as well,” reported Diana Gomez, director of public health, in an update to the Board of Supervisors.
The “triple endemic” of COVID-19, respiratory syncytial virus and flu hit the community hard in November, when typically the uptick in winter illnesses doesn’t start until January.
“I think everybody got sick around that period, right after Thanksgiving,” Gomez said.
Yuma Regional Medical Center reported that the triple endemic caused long wait times in the Emergency Department and a shortage of beds in the hospital. However, that situation is now subsiding.
As for COVID-19, tests are showing a decline in cases as well. “We saw that peak. About 25% of all tests around Thanksgiving were coming back positive. We’re down to around 9%,” Gomez said. “So we’re moving in the right direction. Again, that’s good news.”
However, Gomez reminded residents that if they have put off getting a COVID-19 vaccine or booster, now is the time to do it. President Biden announced the expiration of the national public health emergency declaration on May 11.
The end of the emergency declaration means some changes. For example, right now COVID-19 vaccines are covered by the federal government and provided free of charge to individuals.
“As long as we have our supply of federally purchased vaccines, we will continue to provide those. There’ll be some changes to
insurance,” Gomez said.
“So if you have some questions, you still haven’t got your boosters, some of those things that you have been putting off, you’ve been meaning to get to, now’s the time to go ahead and schedule those appointments,” she added.
The Yuma County Health Department immunization clinic hours are 8-11:30 a.m. and 1-4 p.m. Monday through Thursday. Although walk-ins are welcome, appointments are recommended.
“We want to be respectful of people’s time. So we always encourage you to make an appointment,” Gomez said.
To make an appointment, call the Health Department at 928-317-4550.
The department is also partnering with other agencies and organizations to hold vaccine clinics.
“We’re going to some of the schools where parents requested that, and we’re doing that in partnership with the schools. That’s a way to minimize it, you don’t have to pick up your child to come out of school. We’re just at the site,” Gomez explained.
“We realize everybody’s busy, we don’t want that to be a deterrent. So whenever we can have something in place to just expedite it and make it easier for you, we want to do that.”
The list of available vaccines is listed at www.yumacountyaz.gov/government/health-district.
“If you go on our website, you can see a detailed listing of our vaccines, but mostly preventable vaccines for school-age children, anybody under the age of 18. It’s anything that’s required by the school district,” she noted.
A selection of vaccines for adults is also listed. “It’s a lot more narrow, and part of it is because a lot of people get those vaccines from their primary care providers. So we want to have that available to the public,” Gomez said.
The Health Department will continue to partner with community agencies. “It was something that we started during the pandemic, just expanding that outreach, but we will be doing some vaccine clinics partnering with Sunset (Health) and WACOG (Western Arizona Council of Governments). We will also be partnering with Campesinos Sin Fronteras to do some events.”
In keeping with the theme of Valentine’s Day, the department will celebrate We Love Your Heart Month with a free event in the BOS Auditorium, 198 S. Main St., on Feb. 17, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
“It’s an opportunity for employees or anybody from the public to come get their blood pressure checked,” Gomez explained. “Your blood pressure is a good indicator of your health. A lot of times when you have high blood pressure, people don’t know about it. They aren’t aware, there’s no symptoms unless it’s really, really high. But it’s a good marker for your health, and there’s a lot that can be done, if it’s high, to manage it so that you can have good health.”
Supervisor Tony Reyes also acknowledged the retirement of Deputy Director Maria Nunez. “We want to congratulate her on her retirement … We wish her the best of the best,” he said.
“It is a very well deserved retirement. She’s just been such an integral part. She’s gone through two pandemics. The knowledge base there was huge,” Gomez noted.