By Stephanie Innes | Arizona Republic
Two previously healthy people in their 20s died of COVID-19 at Valleywise Health Medical Center in Phoenix over the weekend, officials confirmed Wednesday.
Neither patient had been vaccinated, said Dr. Michael White, who is the Valleywise chief medical officer during a Wednesday morning briefing.
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Citing a continued surge of COVID-19 patients who are mostly younger than 60, a staffing shortage and diminishing hospital bed capacity, White and other hospital leaders are pleading with Arizona residents to get vaccinated.
Cases and hospitalizations of COVID-19 patients in recent weeks have been increasing in Arizona and in other parts of the U.S., a rise that health experts say is being fueled by the highly contagious delta variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes COVID-19.
“This is a devastating virus that continues to be in our community. We have tools available to prevent this,” White said. “All the patients today in the Valleywise Health Medical Center are not fully vaccinated, which just demonstrates the importance of receiving the vaccine if you are able to take it.”
