State Farm Stadium site gives vaccines to people from anywhere in Arizona
Jan 12, 2021, 10:23 AM | Updated: 2:36 pm
Arizona Department of Health Services Director Dr. Cara Christ works at the state-run COVID-19 vaccination site at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, on Jan. 11, 2021. (Facebook Photo/Arizona Department of Health Services)
(Facebook Photo/Arizona Department of Health Services)
PHOENIX – You don’t have to live in Maricopa County to sign up for a shot at Arizona’s new 24-hour COVID-19 vaccination site at State Farm Stadium.
“There’s not a residency requirement,” Arizona Department of Health Services Director Dr. Cara Christ told KTAR News 92.3 FM’s Arizona’s Morning News on Tuesday, the first full day of operations at the high-capacity Glendale site.
“This is a state-run facility. We will take anybody who is in the state.”
Christ said around 62,000 appointments had been made for the stadium and many more were still available for January. February appointments are not yet offered.
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The site can distribute 200-300 vaccinations an hour, or around 6,000 per day. Christ aims to double that capacity when more vaccine is available.
“We’re hoping to get up to 12,000, but again, that’s dependent on the vaccine supply that we get from our federal partners,” she said.
For now, vaccinations are limited to the priority segment of phase 1B: educators, child care providers, law enforcement and adults 75 and older. Around 750,000 people fall into those categories, according to state estimates.
In addition, people in phase 1A who haven’t been vaccinated can participate in 1B.
Christ said the remaining segments of phase 1B – people with high-risk medical conditions living in congregate settings and workers deemed essential — can expect to become eligible in early or mid-February.
Vaccines developed by Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna have been authorized and distributed to states by federal authorities, and each requires two doses.
The state health department said Tuesday morning that 165,531 doses had been given to Arizonans, with 12,151 having received their second shots.
Maricopa County is also providing vaccines for the priority segment of phase 1B, but appointments at the five county-run points of dispensing have been limited because many were filled for second shots in phase 1A.
Maricopa County said Tuesday morning it was up to 87,892 doses given.
People looking for an opening at a Maricopa County-run site should regularly check the county health department website’s vaccine location page, which gets updated when new slots open.
The county appointments quickly filled up when they started taking reservations Monday morning, but slots were posted Tuesday morning for sites at the Arizona State Fairgrounds in Phoenix and Banner Del E. Webb Medical Center in Sun City West.
More locations, including pharmacies, are expected to join the effort when the vaccine is more readily available.
The state health department has a vaccine-finder page with a map of active and pending locations and links to registration websites.
There are separate registration processes for the state-run stadium site and locations managed by Maricopa County and other entities.
