Dr. Cara Christ, right, director of the Arizona Department of Health Services, receives the first dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine against COVID-19 in the state laboratory of the Arizona Department of Health Services of Nurse Machrina Leach, Wednesday, December 16th. 2020, in Phoenix. (Photo by AP / Ross D. Franklin)
PHOENIX – As Arizona moves forward with plans to expand distribution of COVID-19 vaccine, senior state officials are worried about running out of doses.
“Yesterday we had a conversation I didn’t think we would have anytime soon,” Governor Doug Ducey said The Mike Broomhead Show on KTAR News 92.3 FM Thursday.
“My team had a certain concern about us running out of vaccines.”
Ducey said the state, which opened a high-capacity vaccine 24 hours a day at Glendale State Farm Stadium this week, is receiving gunfire “as quickly as they enter” from the federal government.
“We don’t want to run out of vaccines, but I’m putting a lot of pressure on the administration and the private sector to bring us more vaccines to the state,” he said.
Dr. Cara Christ, director of the Arizona Department of Health Services, also mentioned supply concerns Thursday.
“We have asked our federal partners for an additional vaccine because we are very satisfied with the demand and the number of Arizonans who want to be vaccinated,” he said. Mike Broomhead’s show.
Christ said the 42,000 doses assigned to the Farm State Stadium site are being talked about for four days after the registry opens.
“We plan to use all of that and more this week and get the next weekly assignment next week,” he said. “We have a lot of demand, so we’re trying to make sure everyone who has an appointment gets the vaccine here at Farm State Stadium.”
The location of Glendale Stadium is booked until January and has not yet begun 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, time slots could be limited when registration opens at 9 a.m. Tuesday.
“The number of appointments available will be completely dependent on the number of doses we will have,” Christ said. “So we’re still working to see what those projections are like.”
Demand will only increase after the state says it has lowered the age limit for current eligibility by 10 years to 65 years.
This update came after federal authorities changed their recommendations to prioritize dams while supply was limited.
According to state officials, 85% of Arizonans who have died from COVID-19 and more than half who have been hospitalized have been 65 or older.
Most Arizona counties, including Maricopa, are in the priority segment of Phase 1B. This group initially consisted of educators, child care workers, law enforcement, and adults 75 years of age or older.
The state’s age limit will be reduced to 65 on Tuesday, adding about 750,000 Arizona residents to the eligible segment.
Anyone in Arizona in Priority Phase 1B or Phase 1A is eligible for a shot at a state facility.
“Keep in mind that not all counties are in Phase 1B in Arizona,” Christ said. “And given the limited resources, it is possible that not all counties can prioritize in the same way as the state, so it’s really every county.”
In addition to the logistical complexity of the launch, the two vaccines that have received emergency use authorization in the United States require two separate doses several weeks.
When Maricopa County entered Phase 1B this week, appointments at the five county-run venues were quickly withdrawn because many people had already taken the first Phase 1A spaces.
Maricopa County said Thursday it would not lower the cutting age below 75 due to limited supply.
Availability may vary as conditions change, so anyone who can’t find an appointment should do so periodically again. On Thursday afternoon, the county registration website showed limited availability at two locations: the Arizona State Fairgrounds and the Banner Sun City West.
When supplies are more plentiful, plans provide for vaccines to be readily available through pharmacies, doctor’s offices, emergency care centers, and other options, such as flu vaccines.
The Arizona Department of Health has a vaccine search page with a state map of active and pending locations and links to registration websites.