VIEW LARGER ADHS Director Cara Christ speaking at an online press conference Friday, Jan. 8, 2021. Arizona will dramatically increase the pace of its vaccine rollout starting next week.
On Friday, Gov. Doug Ducey and Arizona Department of Health Services Director Cara Christ announced that on Monday the state will open a 24/7 vaccination site at State Farm Stadium in Glendale. Christ said after a "soft launch" targeted at those who work in law enforcement and other protective services jobs, they anticipate vaccinating up to 6,000 people a day. Appointments for others in Phase 1B and Phase 1A will be available starting Tuesday, Jan. 12. Registration information will be posted Monday morning at azhealth.gov/findvaccine.
As of Friday, the state had administered only 126,090 doses of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines and ranked among the states with the lowest vaccination rates nationally. So far the state has administered about 30% of the vaccines it has received, with additional doses being doled out directly by the CDC to long-term care facility staff and residents.
Christ and Ducey touted the increased pace of vaccine rollout as good news in the fight against COVID-19, even as the state continues to be a national infection hotspot, setting new daily records for cases and deaths and pushing hospital staff and resources to the brink. As of Friday, the state has recorded 596,251 COVID-19 cases and 9,938 deaths, with no decline or plateau of daily numbers evident so far.
Christ continued to defend the strategy of her boss, Gov. Doug Ducey, who has rejected pleas from health care professionals for more restrictions like a mask mandate, further curtailing indoor dining or the size of gatherings. Christ said the tougher restrictions that many Ducey critics are calling for wouldn't necessarily help:
"California has some of the strictest mitigation strategies and they are seeing, they've even got less hospital capacity and higher numbers than Arizona," Christ said.
She added that even though most of Arizona is under a mask mandate, cases are growing as a result of family gatherings over the holidays -- gatherings that she and other health officials tried to discourage.
So far Pima, Gila and Coconino counties are leading the state in terms of vaccination rate per 100,000 people, and Pima and Maricopa counties plan to move into Phase 1B vaccinations next week. Gila, Pinal, Apache and Mojave counties already have moved to 1B.
Education and childcare workers, those age 75 and older living at home and certain essential workers (law enforcement and other protective service jobs) are first in line as part of the Phase 1B vaccine rollout. Other essential workers and adults with high-risk medical conditions living in congregate settings will follow.
Christ said ADHS is working with partners to increase vaccination capacity, adding that the governor's recent executive order allows the state to reallocate vaccine to facilitate rapid distribution. She said as more counties expand into Phase 1B, more vaccination sites around the state will come online.
"We've got over 650 providers that have been on board and over 800 pharmacies have enrolled with the CDC retail pharmacy program to provide in-store vaccinations," she said.
Pima County announced this week that it's in the process of setting up four more regional collaborative vaccine centers. The first is expected to be a drive-thru site at Kino Stadium, targeted to be open by Jan. 15.
County Administrator Chuck Huckelberry said vaccine centers at the University of Arizona and at the Tucson Convention Center should be up and running between Jan. 15 and Jan. 19.
Pima County estimates there are 275,000 to 325,000 people in 1B eligible for vaccinations and is hoping to get through most of the group by the end of March.
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