Maricopa County receives 18,000 doses of Moderna COVID-19 vaccine

PHOENIX – The first shipment of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine, the second coronavirus vaccine approved for use in the U.S., arrived in Maricopa County on Tuesday.

The county said it received approximately 18,000 doses of the new vaccine, which gained emergency use authorization from the Food and Drug Administration on Friday.

The Maricopa County Department of Public Health said the first Moderna shipment will be used for residents and staff at long-term care facilities that aren’t part of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Pharmacy Partnership.

Facilities that enrolled in the CDC program will receive on-site vaccinations secured and provided by pharmacy partners CVS and Walgreens.

The Moderna vaccine will supplement the Pfizer vaccine, which the county started giving last week to health care workers classified in phase 1A of the distribution plan.

The Moderna vaccines are more easily distributed to multiple sites because they can be stored in regular freezers.

The Pfizer vaccine, which is being given at five locations across metro Phoenix, has to be kept at extremely cold temperatures in specially designed freezers.

Maricopa County said it had given more than 8,000 vaccines as of Tuesday.

Both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines require two doses spaced out by several weeks.

Follow @kstonezone