By Corinne Murdock |

The two-year anniversary of the COVID-19 pandemic declared a national emergency is on March 15; as of this report, there have been .2 percent deaths from COVID-19 in individuals under the age of 20 in Arizona, or nearly zero. The total amount: 53. According to the latest census, about 22 percent of the population was under 18.

The Arizona Department of Health Services (ADHS) latest reporting noted that less than half of those deaths occurred within the last six months: 20. That’s just over zero percent of deaths within the last six months: .3 percent.

For the last six months, 60 percent of COVID deaths occurred in individuals over 65 years old. 19 percent were individuals aged 55 to 64. 12 percent were individuals aged 45 to 54. 9 percent were individuals aged 20 to 44. 

In both counts from the last six months and all time, the majority of COVID-19 deaths occurred in men and white, non-Hispanic individuals. 

For all time, 71 percent of COVID deaths occurred in individuals over 65. 16 percent were in individuals aged 55 to 64. 8 percent were in individuals aged 45 to 54. 5 percent were in individuals aged 20 to 44. 

Again, just over zero percent of deaths were in individuals under 20 years old: .2 percent. 

The death rates have remained consistent, despite the recent winter surge prompted by the Omicron variant. The surge mirrored that of last year, though this year’s spike of 14,000 was 3,000 less than the spike that occurred then. According to genetic marker review of the state’s COVID-19 cases, over 87 percent of recent cases were of the Omicron variant. 

Even with the number of under-20 COVID-19 deaths, the Arizona Department of Health Services (ADHS) has been pushing for parents to vaccinate their children. Dr. Richard Carmona, appointed by Governor Doug Ducey as a special advisor for the pandemic, suggested to parents that they should vaccinate their children because the vaccine could prevent injury and death, though he admitted COVID-19 doesn’t pose a serious harm.

“The science is sound. The science tells us this is the right thing to do, and we have a long, long history of understanding how vaccines work, and how it’s prevented our children from getting all of these diseases that grievously can cause serious harm and death — and today we don’t see that in our society if our children are vaccinated,” stated Carmona.

Carmona serves as a board of directors member for McKesson, a major distributor of the COVID-19 vaccine.

Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.