Dr. Judge Cara Christ, director of the Arizona Department of Health Services, received the first dose of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for COVID-19 at the Arizona Department of Health Services State Laboratory from nurse Machrina Leach on Wednesday, December 16th. 2020, in Phoenix. (AP Photo / Ross D. Franklin)
PHOENIX – As Arizona continues to plan to expand the distribution of COVID-19 vaccines, senior government officials are concerned about running out of doses.
“We had a conversation yesterday that I did not think we were going to have any time soon,” Governor Doug Ducey said KTAR News 92.3 FM’s The Mike Broomhead Show on Thursday.
“There was concern with my team that we could not run out of vaccines.”
Ducey said the state, which opened a 24-hour vaccination site at Glendale State Farm Stadium this week, fired a shot at the federal government “as soon as they enter.”
“We do not want to run out of vaccines, but I am pushing very hard on the administration and the private sector to get more vaccines for the state,” he said.
Dr. Cara Christ, director of the Arizona Department of Health Services, also said Thursday that the offer is worrying.
“We have asked our federal partners for additional vaccine because we are very satisfied with the demand and the number of Arizonans who want to be vaccinated,” she said. The Mike Broomhead Show.
Christ said the 42,000 doses allocated for the State Farm Stadium site will be opened four days after registration.
“We plan to use it all and more this week and get the next award next week,” she said. “We have a lot of demand, so we’re trying to make sure everyone who has an appointment gets their vaccine here at State Farm Stadium.”
The location of Glendale Stadium has been booked until January and has not yet started accepting bookings for February.
But on Thursday, the state announced plans to open a second mass vaccination site on Feb. 1, this one at Phoenix Municipal Stadium. However, slots may be restricted when registration opens Tuesday at 9 p.m.
“The number of appointments available will depend entirely on the amount of doses we will receive,” Christ said. “So we’re still working to see what the projections look like.”
Demand will only go up after the state says it has lowered the age limit for current fitness by 10 years to 65.
This update was done after federal authorities changed their recommendations for prioritizing shots while supply was restricted.
According to government officials, 85% of the Arizona people who died from COVID-19 and more than half who were hospitalized were 65 or older.
Most Arizona provinces, including Maricopa, are in the Phase 1B priority segment. The group initially consisted of educators, child care workers, law enforcers and adults aged 75 and older.
The state’s age section will be lowered to 65 on Tuesday, which will add about 750,000 Arizonans to the qualifying segment.
Anyone in Arizona in Priority Phase 1B or Phase 1A is eligible for a shot at a state-owned facility.
“Remember, not every country is in Phase 1B in Arizona,” Christ said. “And given the limited resources, not every province can be able to prioritize in the same way as the state, so it’s really according to the province.”
To increase the logistical complexity of the deployment, the two vaccines that received emergency use authorization in the United States require two doses that are several weeks apart.
When Maricopa County entered Phase 1B this week, the appointments at the five provincial sites were quickly snapped up because many slots had already been taken by people in Phase 1A.
Maricopa County said Thursday it does not let the cut-off date fall below 75 due to the limited supply.
Availability may vary as conditions change, so anyone who could not find an appointment should contact them regularly. As of Thursday afternoon, the county’s registration website showed limited availability on two sites: the Arizona State Fairgrounds and Banner Sun City West.
If there are more supplies, plans call for vaccines to be readily available through pharmacies, doctor’s offices, urgent care centers and other options, such as with flu shots.
The Arizona Department of Health has a vaccine-finders page with a map of active and pending locations and links to registration sites.