This week, Beatitudes Campus held its fourth vaccination clinic in partnership with CVS. it is so extraordinary that so many of our residents and staff took this opportunity to get the COVID-19 vaccine. Getting this vaccine to prevent COVID-19 is perhaps the best hope for ending the pandemic (along with masks and social distancing). We know that we are protecting ourselves as well as family, friends and those around us from getting COVID-19 or from becoming seriously ill due to COVID-19.
I want to urge all family members of our residents and staff to make every effort to get the vaccine. As of Wednesday, March 24, Arizona has opened the eligibility to receive the vaccine to all adults (age 16 for the Pfizer vaccine and age 18 for the Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccine)! This is great news! We know that the more people who are vaccinated and protected from COVID-19, the harder it is for the disease to spread and mutate and possibly become resistant to existing vaccines. These vaccines are safe and are an important part of our toolkit for moving us out of the pandemic. Maricopa County alone has over 200 vaccination clinics. If you need to get vaccinated, you can find out more information by clicking on this link: https://www.maricopa.gov/5659/COVID-19-Vaccine-Locations.
I invite you to join our Beatitudes Strong team of residents and staff and get your vaccine if you haven't already. You will be protecting your loved ones and your friends at the campus and will be helping to prevent the spread of the disease by being vaccinated. We are Beatitudes Strong!
Yesterday, Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey suddenly lifted remaining restrictions to curb the coronavirus, prohibiting government mask mandates and allowing bars and nightclubs shuttered for months to open their doors without restrictions. However, Gov. Ducey encouraged the continued use of masks and allows businesses to enforce mask mandates and distancing. In a statement, Gov. Ducey said “I'm confident Arizona's businesses and citizens will continue to practice the fundamentals and act responsibly as we gradually get back to normal.” Medical experts advise us to keep wearing masks until more people in the community are vaccinated. According to the CDC, even fully vaccinated people should wear masks to avoid possibly spreading the virus. In all K-12 schools, masks will still be required. As you know, based on recommendations from state and federal health agencies, we are phasing in re-opening the campus and our plan has been executed well. We are still requiring mask wearing and social distancing except in Independent Living resident apartments when all people are vaccinated. We will continue to monitor the metrics, and our goal is to be fully opened for visitors on campus by May 1. Detail will follow. Guidelines for re-opening are posted on our website at https://beatitudescampus.org/beatitudes-family/ (click on Visitor Guidelines).
We are showing that we are Beatitudes Strong because our campus currently is COVID-19 free. As the spread continues to decrease in Maricopa County and here on campus, we have been able to decrease the frequency of staff testing per our regulating agencies. We no longer will be doing twice a week testing for staff working in Plaza View or the Health Care Center. We will, however, continue to do weekly testing of the majority of our staff and every two weeks for staff who do not have much resident interaction. If cases begin to trend upward in the surrounding community, we will revise our testing strategy to increase frequency as needed. This week we tested over 329 staff and all results were negative. We attribute our decrease in COVID-19 cases to our vigilance in mask-wearing and social distancing whether we are at campus or away from campus and, for most of us, getting a vaccine in addition to the decrease in spread in the community. We aren't out of the woods yet, but the light is shining brighter!
My best,
Michelle Just, President and CEO
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