The Arizona Department of Health Services on Wednesday released new COVID-19 case and death totals, the agency’s second weekly update since transitioning away from daily reporting last month.

Arizona has crossed the 28,000-death marker according to the ADHS data, with nearly 400 reported in the time period since the last update. With 6,549 new COVID cases confirmed, Arizona is inching closer to two million total as the pandemic hits the two-year mark this week. Sixty-three percent of all cases in the state — close to 1.3 million — have been recorded in Maricopa County.

The vaccination rate in Arizona remains below the United States average at 69.8 percent, and the death rate owing to COVID is the second-highest in the country. Per 100,000 Arizonans, there are 391 deaths on average.

To honor the deceased, the Arizona Historical Society held a COVID-19 Victims and Survivors Memorial Day event on Monday. With assistance from the Marked By COVID nonprofit, the Arizona Heritage Center in Tempe hosted the outdoor event, which offered COVID testing on-site.

New York Times data shows the U.S. has exceeded 960,000 deaths during the pandemic, but the prevalence of serious illness is waning. Hospitalizations around the country have been reduced by more than 50 percent. Arizona has seen a 41 percent decrease in COVID-based hospitalizations in the past 14 days.

However, unvaccinated individuals continue to be at serious risk for developing a life-threatening COVID-19 case. Information from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which the New York Times cites in its data reporting, shows that Americans without at least one vaccine dose are at least three times more likely to test positive for the virus. These people are also 10 times as likely to die from COVID compared to a vaccinated individual.