(Christophe Archambault / Pool photo via AP)
PHOENIX – The Arizona Department of Health Services on Thursday amended its total coronavirus vaccine, saying the changes are due to the time it takes to validate the data the department has received.
“The new, validated number becomes the basis for continued real-time reporting,” said ADHD director, dr. Cara Christ, said in a blog post. “Meanwhile, finding duplicates in data is problematic and it improves the real-time data we report on a daily basis.”
Christ noted that the two doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, unlike coronavirus cases and deaths, ‘require additional steps for data matching and deduplication’.
“Similar to the first time we complete our data matching, the first aggregation, adjustment, and clearing of data usually results in a significant change in the number of records identified and deleted (or added),” Christ said. .
The department said Wednesday that more than 119,000 coronavirus vaccines have been distributed in the state; however, they backtracked on Thursday, saying about 113,000 vaccines had been administered as a result of clearing the data.
The general condition is slow to increase the spread of the coronavirus vaccine since receiving the first shipments in mid-December.
Provinces in Arizona are slowly moving from phase 1A to 1B of vaccine distribution. Phase 1A put health workers and those working in long-term care facilities first.
The provinces of Apache, Pinal and Gila have started vaccinating those in 1B, which includes teachers, adults aged 75 and over, essential workers and high-risk adults in conditions.
Maricopa County said Wednesday it will begin Phase 1B next week.
The advent of the vaccine and the build-up of the distribution process comes as the state continues to reach new pandemic levels.
On Thursday, state health officials reported 9,913 new cases of coronavirus and a record 297 additional deaths, bringing the documented states to 584,593 COVID-19 infections and 9,741 deaths.