(Christophe Archambault / Photo of the pool by AP)
PHOENIX – The Arizona Department of Health Services on Thursday modified its coronavirus vaccination totals, saying the changes come from taking the time to validate data the department has received.
“The new validated number becomes the basis for real-time ongoing reporting,” Dr. Cara Christ, director of ADHS, said in a blog post. “Meanwhile, finding duplicates in the data solves problems and improves the real-time data we report on a daily basis.”
Christ noted that, unlike cases and deaths from coronavirus, both doses of the COVID-19 vaccine require “additional steps for data matching and deduplication.”
“Just like the first time we completed our death data match, the first merger, match, and data cleanup usually results in a significant change in the number of records identified and deleted (or added),” he said. Christ.
On Wednesday, the department said more than 119,000 coronavirus vaccines were distributed in the state; however, they backtracked Thursday, saying about 113,000 vaccines had been administered as a result of the data cleanup.
The state in general has been slow to increase the distribution of the coronavirus vaccine since it received the first shipments in mid-December.
Arizona counties are slowly moving from phase 1A to B vaccine distribution. Phase 1A has given priority to health workers and those who work and live in long-term care centers.
Apache, Pinal and Gila counties have begun vaccinating those in 1B, which includes teachers, adults 75 and older, essential workers, and adults at high risk in congregated settings.
Maricopa County said Wednesday it would enter Phase 1B next week.
The arrival of the vaccine and the increase in the distribution process occurs as the state continues to reach new levels of pandemic.
On Thursday, state health officials reported 9,913 new cases of coronavirus and recorded an additional 297 deaths, accounting for 584,593 documented COVID-19 infections and 9,741 fatalities.