FILE – In this file photo, a vial of the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine against COVID-19 is being prepared on 18 January 2021 in a vaccination center of the 3rd district in Paris. (AP Photo / Francois Mori, file)
PHOENIX – The Arizona Department of Health Services on Wednesday released new details about weather delays in COVID-19 vaccines.
All state Pfizer and Moderna vaccines have been delayed this week, but the impact on the appointments for the next few days will vary by location, the department said in a press release.
According to the release, there are many doses in Maricopa and Pima provinces where the Pfizer vaccine is used, but the situation remains fluid in areas where the Moderna vaccine is used.
Residents with appointments in rural provinces should inquire with the local authorities about availability according to the exemption.
A top Banner Health official said the state’s largest hospital system has enough supplies for vaccine payouts in Maricopa, Pinal and Coconino provinces to cover the appointments this week.
The chief clinical officer, dr. Marjorie Bessell, however, said that Banner is ‘slightly short’ in the province of Gila and that it may have bigger problems in the province of Pima. She said Banner has enough vaccine for appointments on Wednesday and Thursday in Pima County, but vaccinations on Friday through Sunday are “at risk if we do not get supplies.”
Bessell said the shipping supplies needed to give the shots, such as syringes and needles, were also delayed by the winter storms.
According to the release, the state was allocated 176,600 doses for delivery: 85,800 Pfizer vaccines and 90,800 Moderna vaccines. According to the ADHS COVID-19 dashboard, as of Wednesday morning, 1,291,053 of the 1,395,300 state applications were applied.
Shipments of both types that were to take place on Monday were not sent, according to the release, due to winter storms across the country. Some shipments sent over the weekend are expected to arrive late now.
Estimated arrival times vary by location.
On Tuesday night, the state health department revealed for the first time that shipments had been delayed due to the weather and that some local health departments had to cancel the appointments.
Here was Tuesday’s full statement:
Extreme winter weather affecting much of the rest of the country has delayed the delivery of COVID-19 doses to Arizona this week. Due to these weather-related delays, some local health departments told ADHD that they had to cancel the appointments in the next two days. At present, it appears that sufficient Pfizer doses are available for state vaccination sites and other sites that allow Pfizer to operate without interruption.
Here is Wednesday’s full follow-up press release:
All Arizona allocations for both the Pfizer and Modern vaccines are delayed due to extreme weather affecting much of the rest of the country, but that does not mean that Arizonans expecting vaccination in the next few days , will inevitably cancel their appointments.
At all sites in the provinces of Maricopa and Pima administering the Pfizer vaccine, there is currently sufficient stock to maintain operations.
For other sites, the situation is fluid and will depend on the offer of each provider. ADHD is in close contact with our federal and local partners to monitor the situation, which is still evolving.
Currently, there are enough Pfizer doses available for all sites, including PODs in Maricopa County, to maintain uninterrupted operations. These PODs handle much of the vaccination in Maricopa and Pima provinces, which are positioned to meet the strict storage requirements and the large amount of Pfizer vaccine.
Rural provinces and some smaller suppliers in the provinces of Pima and Maricopa administer the Moderna vaccine, which has less stringent storage requirements.
The federal government has allocated 85,800 Pfizer doses and 90,800 doses of Moderna to Arizona for a total of 176,600 doses expected to be delivered to the state this week.
Provinces are the local vaccine allocator in Arizona, and specific information on the impact on appointments in each local jurisdiction comes from the provinces. For those who live in rural Arizona or have first or second dose appointments with providers that administer the Moderna vaccine, we recommend contacting your district health department or the provider concerned.
Because sent notices go directly to the provider sites, ADHD does not have specific information on when each provider can expect to receive the allotted vaccine doses of this week. Our federal partners have advised that Moderna vaccines will not be shipped Monday due to the weather, but Moderna deliveries of the weekend scheduled for delivery on Monday are expected to be delivered today. Pfizer vaccine doses were also not shipped Monday, though federal partners have advised that shipments sent for delivery Monday or Tuesday over the weekend still need to be delivered.
For more information on the availability of vaccines across the country, visit the ADHD website for a vaccine finder page with a map of locations and registration information.