A University of Arizona Health Sciences study looking at re-infection and antibodies in front-line workers is now expanding to include some students. The Arizona Healthcare, Emergency Response, and Other Essential Workers Surveillance study, or AZ HEROES, will examine the effectiveness of vaccines as new COVID-19 variants pop up around the globe.

As thousands of Arizonans are finally getting vaccinated against COVID-19, the number of new cases in Arizona is slowly starting to drop. But almost a year into the pandemic, people are getting stir crazy — and after Super Bowl parties, there's some concern those numbers could climb back up in the coming weeks. For an update on the state of the pandemic, The Show spoke with Dr. Joe Gerald, associate professor of public health policy and management at the University of Arizona Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health.

Stewart Goldman, MD, has joined Phoenix Children's Hospital and University of Arizona College of Medicine–Phoenix as chair of the department of child health and senior vice president of research.

One of the unsolved mysteries about COVID-19 is why it has a lesser impact on children, even kids with asthma. University of Arizona pediatric researcher Fernando Martinez, MD, at the College of Medicine - Tucson, says children in general are at lower risk for COVID-19, but why the disease does not affect those with asthma is especially interesting. “We’re actively studying it."

Health experts are warning we are in a race between vaccine distribution and new, more transmissible coronavirus variants. Other variants from Brazil and South Arizona have not been detected in Arizona yet. Both of those variants have a mutation that might reduce the efficacy of the vaccine. Dr. Joe Gerald, an associate professor with the University of Arizona College of Public Health, warns that just because we haven’t detected them yet, doesn’t mean they’re not already here.

Daniel Derksen, a physician and the director of the Arizona Center for Rural Health at the University of Arizona, where he is also a professor, said he’s puzzled “that some individuals and a few health providers are skeptical about the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines but are so gung-ho on ivermectin."

Joe Gerald, an associate professor at the University of Arizona Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health, discusses whether those vaccinated should still adhere to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's safety guidelines and if they should still take a COVID-19 test if they feel unwell.

The Rio Rico and Sonoita-Elgin fire districts, whose combined service areas include approximately 20,000 people living in 792 square miles, are partners in the Arizona Rural EMS Advanced Telemedicine Demonstration Initiative (AzREADI), a joint project involving the University of Arizona Health Sciences and Banner – University Medical Center Tucson.

Dr. Joe Gerald, a health services researcher at the University of Arizona Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health, and Dr. David Beyda, chair and professor with the Department of Bioethics and Medical Humanism at the College of Medicine – Phoenix protocols people should follow even after being vaccinated.

Dr. Jeff Burgess, associate dean of research and professor at the University of Arizona Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health, leads the FEMA-funded Fire Fighter Cancer Cohort Study. With more than 20 fire departments participating across the country, the prospective study is focused on carcinogenic exposures and effects, and cancer prevention in the fire service, including paid and volunteer firefighters, training instructors, fire cause investigators, wildland-urban interface firefighting, airport fire department and stations, and women firefighters.