Biden praises Arizona Gov. Ducey’s cooperation with vaccine distribution

PHOENIX — President Joe Biden on Monday thanked Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey for his cooperation in distributing COVID-19 vaccines in the state.

The comments came during a virtual tour of the State Farm Stadium coronavirus vaccine pod with Vice President Kamala Harris, Arizona Department of the Health Services Director Dr. Cara Christ and other officials.

Biden said he was sorry they were in the position that the governor could not join the tour, not mentioning Ducey by name.

He did, however, say the governor has been very helpful.

“He’s stepped up and this is the kind of partnership between the federal and state governments that I think … help us vaccinate more people more quickly and to get ahead of this virus,” Biden said of the Republican governor.

“There is no such thing as a red state or a blue state when it comes to COVID, there is no such thing as a Democrat or a Republican when it comes to COVID. When we stand united, there’s not a damn thing we are unable to do.”

It was said in the tour that Arizona was one of the first states to reach out and ask for federal help from the Biden administration. The Federal Emergency Management Agency deployed 25 staff members to State Farm Stadium to help operate the site 24/7.

Since opening Jan. 11, the vaccination site at State Farm Stadium has given more than 160,000 doses.

Ducey responded in a tweet Monday afternoon thanking the president and vice president for taking the time to tour the Glendale vaccination site.

Greatly appreciate the @POTUS and @VP taking time today to tour AZ’s @StateFarmStdm vaccination site.

Medical professionals, @AZNationalGuard members and volunteers work hard to vaccinate Arizonans & run the site, & I’m happy to see their hard work noticed by the administration.

— Doug Ducey (@dougducey) February 8, 2021

Ducey and Christ previously requested an emergency infusion of 300,000 COVID-19 vaccine doses and an increase of 300,000 doses weekly from the state’s federal allotment, a request Ducey says was denied.

The governor last week wrote a letter to the state’s congressional delegation asking them to engage at every level to help secure additional vaccines for the state.

Arizona’s four GOP Congress members and Rep. Greg Stanton, a Democrat, followed Ducey’s request and sent letters requesting more vaccines.

Ducey in the letter said the state-run site at State Farm Stadium and a second state-run site that opened at Phoenix Municipal Stadium on Feb. 1 are both operating below capacity due to the allocation of vaccines from federal partners.

Around 9,000 vaccine doses are given daily at State Farm Stadium out of a capacity of 12,000, Christ said.

Biden didn’t address Ducey, Christ or the Arizona lawmakers’ request for more vaccines during the tour but offered to send more vaccinators if needed and is optimistic there is enough vaccine in the pipeline to provide both COVID-19 vaccine shots for over 300 million people before the end of the summer.

This includes getting vaccines to pharmacies and vaccination pods like State Farm Stadium, according to Biden.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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