Ask anyone in medicine and they'll tell you, the COVID-19 pandemic was the answer to their calling. "It's reminding us why we got into this field in the first place, said Aaron Cedric Llanes, UArizona medical student. So many have heard the call in fact, 7000 applied to the University of Arizona's College of Medicine in 2020, the most ever. "Less than 2% will get an offer," said Dr. Glen Fogerty.

According to the Arizona Department of Health Services, more than 17,000 positive COVID-19 cases were reported Sunday. Those are numbers that experts say are likely to increase after an estimated 84 million Americans traveled in recent weeks. "They just don't think it's them. 'I'm not the cause, I'm not the case, it's not going to happen to me,'" said Dr. Purnima Madhivanan, an associate professor at the Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health.

Arizona has the highest rate of new COVID-19 cases in the United States, data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says. Arizona's rate of positive new coronavirus cases over the past seven days was 121.8 cases per 100,000 people, which was higher than any other state in the country. "We have now all but locked in a major humanitarian crisis during the Christmas–New Year holiday with hundreds of preventable deaths per week," Dr. Joe Gerald, of the Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health, wrote in a Dec. 18 report.

Continuing coverage: A new study has found that a novel T cell genetically engineered by University of Arizona Health Sciences researcher Michael Kuhns is able to target and attack pathogenic T cells that cause Type 1 diabetes, which could lead to new immunotherapy treatments.

Continuing coverage: Sleep researchers explain why so many people during the COVID-19 pandemic struggle with insomnia. “We've seen a lot of problems lately, especially with people having trouble disconnecting at night, where they just with everything going on during the day, they have a real hard time disconnecting,” said Michael Grandner, who runs the Sleep and Health Research program at the University of Arizona Department of Psychiatry.

Dr. Debra Guinn, an OBGYN at Banner – University Medical Center Tucson and the vice chair of research at the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Tucson's Department Obsetrics and Gynecology, said there is little to no evidence of the effects of the vaccine on pregnant women. "Unfortunately, when they were developing and trying the vaccine and the different these trials to get it to market or available for all of us through emergency use, they specifically excluded pregnant women," said Guinn.

What usually is the most lucrative time of the year for retail businesses along the U.S.-Mexico border could become another nail in the coffin for owners who already were grappling with a decrease in shoppers crossing from Mexico and other impacts from COVID-19. Dr. Cecilia Rosales, an associate dean at the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Phoenix and the co-chair of the Arizona-Mexico Commission's Health Services Committee, said border community responses to the pandemic are challenged by the intricate nature of their relationships with sister cities on the other side of the border.

The first COVID-19 vaccines arrived in Arizona earlier this month and began to be distributed across the state Thursday, starting with Maricopa and Pima Counties and signaling a new phase in the fight against the virus. University of Arizona Health Sciences Biorepository Director Dr. David Harris said it was a “logical extension” for UA to store the incoming vaccines.

A study found that tranexamic acid, commonly used in cardiac surgery to help stop bleeding, improved the odds of survival for some trauma patients.

Dr. Daniel Derksen, University of Arizona Health Sciences associate vice president, said he encourages every Arizonan to “take a look, shop and compare” coverage plans available through the ACA. It is especially important to do so in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, he said. “This could be a devastating, bankrupting experience when you need care, and you don’t have coverage,” he added.