Dr. Christ: Arizona COVID vaccine shortage won’t cause cancellations

PHOENIX – Despite a COVID-19 vaccine supply shortage, Arizona’s top health official said Thursday that appointments won’t be canceled.

“There will be vaccine available,” Dr. Cara Christ, director of the Arizona Department of Health Services, told KTAR News 92.3 FM’s The Mike Broomhead Show. “We know that we’ve got vaccine here in the Valley that we can redistribute, and so no one should worry about showing up at the vaccine site today or tomorrow to get vaccinated.”

As of Thursday morning’s ADHS COVID-19 dashboard update, 1,045,644 of the state’s 1,220,400 allotted vaccine doses had been administered. That represents 85.6% of the allocation.

The federal government distributes additional vaccine to states each week. Christ said Arizona has been receiving about 170,000 doses weekly.

Christ and other state officials have been pressing federal authorities to increase Arizona’s weekly shipments by 300,000 doses.

On Monday, Christ gave President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris a virtual tour of the state-run vaccination site at State Farm Stadium in Glendale.

She said Thursday that she didn’t talk specifically about vaccine supply at that time, “but we are in constant communication with our federal partners.”

Christ said she’s hoping Arizona’s allocation will soon be boosted.

“They know we have the capacity, and I know they’re working to try and get us additional vaccine,” she said. “Vaccine supply is limited nationwide.”

For more information about statewide vaccine availability, the ADHS website has a vaccine-finder page with a map of locations and information about registration.

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