E77: COVID-19 Roundtable Update - 6/7/21

Today’s COVID-19 Roundtable is set against the backdrop of continued, mostly positive developments in Arizona. U.S. case rates have hit the lowest point since the pandemic began, Arizona case rates are lower but stubbornly plateauing, while vaccination rates are consistently declining. The Federal goal of 70% vaccination by the 4^th of July has been reached by 12 U.S. states. Projections tend to show that Arizona will not join them.

Meanwhile, data shows that unvaccinated Arizonans with no antibodies from previous infection face the same risk of infection as ever. Of course, from a population health perspective that group of Arizonans becomes smaller by the day.

There is still a lot to process, a lot to learn from, and a lot to improve upon. So let’s get to it: it’s time to talk about the public health value of school closures, comparison of the current COVID impact to the typical flu season, the future of telehealth and telework, variants, vaccines, the worldwide pandemic context and more, as of June 7, 2021