/ Modified mar 16, 2021 11:07 p.m.

News roundup: One million Arizonans fully vaccinated, Latino vaccination rates fall behind

Recent coverage impacting Southern Arizona, March 16.

Arizona COVID-19 cases: 7 days

Map shows COVID-19 cases and case rates over the week preceding the last update.

Credit: Nick O'Gara/AZPM. Sources: The New York Times, based on reports from state and local health agencies, Census Bureau. Case reports do not correspond to day of test.

Cases 833,878 | Deaths 16,574

On Tuesday, March 16, Arizona reported 497 new cases of COVID-19 and 21 additional deaths.


One million Arizonans fully vaccinated against COVID-19

AZPM

One million Arizona residents are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to data published by the Arizona Department of Health Services on Tuesday morning.

The milestone means that 13.89% of all Arizona residents are fully vaccinated, not just those over the age of 16 who are eligible to be vaccinated this year.

Health experts say herd immunity against COVID-19 will be reached when approximately 70% of the total population has received the full course of the vaccine.

Learn more here.


Latino COVID-19 vaccination rate still low in Arizona

AZPM

More than 2.5 million people in Arizona have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine but according to the state, 8.7% of those vaccines have been given to Latinos.

Locally, the numbers are better. In Pima County, about 14.5% of those vaccinated have identified themselves as Latino.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 31.7% of Arizona residents identify themselves as Hispanic or Latino.

Part of the explanation for the law numbers may be reporting because people getting the vaccine are not required to list their race or ethnicity.

Learn more here.


Race for Governor underway

AZPM

Marco Lopez announced Tuesday morning that he is running for the Democratic nomination in the 2022 gubernatorial race.

Lopez is an Arizona native born in Nogales. He became the city’s mayor at age 22 after graduating from the University of Arizona. He also served as the head of the Arizona Department of Commerce under Governor Janet Napolitano. Lopez was chief of staff for the U.S. Border Patrol during the Obama Administration.

Lopez is the founding partner of SkyBridge Arizona, a facility at the Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport that allows joint U.S.-Mexican customs inspections.

Lopez is the first person to formally announce a run for Governor in 2022. Term limits keep Governor Doug Ducey from running for a third term.


UA groups plan webinar series on water issues

AZPM

Several University of Arizona groups are coming together to present a six-part public webinar series on water issues this year.

The first will take place Wednesday, March 17, and focus on different regional perspectives on water sustainability. Kathy Jacobs, Director of the Center for Climate Adaptation Science and Solutions at UA, is moderating the discussion. She said people often disagree on issues around water, especially in times of shortage.

"I don't believe everybody views this the same way and when you don't, you actually come to different conclusions about what's an appropriate decision for water management," Jacobs said.

Jacobs said Wednesday's discussion is intended to help understand the different ways people frame water issues as a step towards working towards more collaboration. It will feature representatives from tribes, utilities, environmental groups and Mexico.

The series is presented by the Arizona Institutes for Resilience, the Udall Center for Studies in Public Policy, and the Water Resources Research Center, and intended for the general public. Find more information here.


State sees first tax revenue from recreational marijuana

AZPM

During the last 11 days of January, Arizonans bought $2.9 million worth of legal recreational marijuana according to the state Department of Revenue.

Records for January’s transaction privilege tax or sales tax show that Arizona residents were buying about $264,000 a day worth of recreational marijuana at the end of the month.

Recreational marijuana went on sale in Arizona on January 20th, after voters legalized it in November.

Learn more here.


Arizona: More than 1M people in state now fully vaccinated

AP

PHOENIX — Arizona officials have that more 1 million state residents have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19. That represents nearly 14% of the state’s estimated population of nearly 7.3 million, or about one of every seven residents.

The state on Tuesday reported 21 more COVID-19 deaths and 497 additional confirmed cases, That keeps Arizona on a trend of fewer than 1,000 cases reported on six of the previous eight days.

The latest figures increased the state’s pandemic totals to 16,574 deaths and 833,678 confirmed cases. Related hospitalizations declined to 473 as of Monday, down from the Jan. 11 pandemic high of 5,082.

Learn more here.


Navajo Nation reports no COVID-19 deaths for 2nd day in row

AP

WINDOW ROCK — The Navajo Nation on Monday reported six new cases of COVID-19, but no additional deaths for the second consecutive day.

The latest numbers pushed the tribe’s pandemic total to 29,954 confirmed cases. The known death toll remained at 1,218.

The Navajo Nation had a soft reopening Monday with 25% capacity for some businesses under certain restrictions. Still, mask mandates and daily curfews remain.

On Monday, the Navajo Department of Health identified two communities, Baca Prewitt and Coyote Canyon, as having uncontrolled spread of COVID-19 from Feb. 26 to March 11. That compares with 75 communities that were identified in January as having uncontrolled spread of the coronavirus.

Learn more here.


Immigrant advocates push against Arizona's top prosecutor

AP

PHOENIX — A Latino civil rights organization has filed a lawsuit against Arizona’s top prosecutor on behalf of nonprofit groups that say his efforts to block President Joe Biden’s changes in immigration policy are unlawful.

The Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund on Tuesday filed the lawsuit against Attorney General Mark Brnovich for the Arizona-based Puente Human Rights Movement, Chicanos Por La Causa and the Florence Immigrant & Refugee Rights Project.

It’s the latest lawsuit springing from a last-minute agreement former President Donald Trump’s administration made in its waning days with numerous state agencies, seeking to maintain its tough immigration policies.

Learn more here.


Sonora Now At Low COVID-19 Risk, Though Risk Of Third Wave Remains

Fronteras Desk

A year after the first cases were confirmed in neighboring Sonora, the state is now at low risk for coronavirus spread.

That’s according to the federal semaforo — or traffic light — system. Sonora is one of three states at green, or low risk, with a majority of the remainder at yellow, or moderate risk.

The rating is based on the rate of transmission, active cases, percentage of hospital beds occupied, among other factors.

State Health Secretary Enrique Clausen warned of a possible third wave brought on by travel during upcoming Holy Week in a recent statement.

Daily confirmed deaths are continuing their steady downward trend, though new confirmed cases showed a slight uptick in recent days, according to data tracked by the University of Sonora.


$70K distributed after Arizona prison escapees captured

AP

COOLIDGE — Federal authorities have paid a Casa Grande resident $20,000 and a family in Coolidge $50,000 for their help in locating two Arizona prison inmates who escaped from a state prison in January.

The Casa Grande Dispatch reported that John Charpiot and David Harmon escaped Jan. 23 from the medium security unit at Arizona State Prison Complex-Florence after breaking into a tool room and stealing tools to cut through the outside fence.

Authorities had offered a $70,000 reward for information that would lead to their capture. The pair was captured Jan. 28.

Learn more here.


Lawmakers fear turning 144 cities, including Sierra Vista, into "micropolitan" areas

AP

A bipartisan group in Congress is urging the federal government not to remove 144 cities from being designated as metropolitan areas. They say reclassifying them as “micropolitan” could put key federal funding at risk.

The request comes after The Associated Press reported this month that the federal government wants to raise the population criteria for core cities in metro areas from 50,000 residents to 100,000 residents. Doing so would reclassify more than a third of the 392 current metro areas as “micropolitan” statistical areas.

The statisticians say the change is long overdue for a classification that was introduced in 1950.

Learn more here.

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