Numbers show that Arizona has upped its COVID-19 vaccine game
Feb 2, 2021, 2:02 PM | Updated: 2:54 pm
(Photo by Jane Barlow - Pool/Getty Images)
(Photo by Jane Barlow - Pool/Getty Images)
PHOENIX – Nearly 60% of Arizona’s COVID-19 vaccine supply has been administered, the state health department said Tuesday, a big jump from a week earlier.
The federal government has committed 1,195,000 doses of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines to Arizona as of this week, the Arizona Department of Health Services said in its daily update.
A total of 702,664 doses of #COVID19 vaccine have been administered in Arizona. Review the daily report. https://t.co/qxaE43TgwZ pic.twitter.com/Ggb4CKU2Mx
— AZ Dept of Health (@AZDHS) February 2, 2021
More than 702,000 shots, 59% of the allotment, have been given statewide. That was up about 31,000 doses and 3 percentage points from the previous day.
A week ago Tuesday, the health department reported that only 47% of the state’s supply, then just over 1 million doses, had been disbursed. By Sunday, it was up to 64%, a figure that dropped to 56% on Monday with the new week’s order.
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Arizona is moving up the national rankings for doses administered per capita but remains in the lower half of states.
On Tuesday, Arizona ranked 32nd out of 50 states in shots per 100,000 residents, according to tracking by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control.
A week ago, only seven states had given fewer doses per capita than Arizona.
The CDC statistics lag behind Arizona’s reports. But that’s likely the case with other states, so it’s not clear how much, if at all, the lag affects rankings.
State officials say the main thing holding back vaccinations now is the lack of supply.
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“What we need right now are more vaccines. We’re in danger of running out of the vaccines we have,” Gov. Doug Ducey told CNN on Sunday.
“All we can do is distribute what we receive from the federal government and the private sector.”
The state’s two stadium parking lot sites each have the capacity to give about 12,000 shots a day.
The Phoenix Municipal Stadium location debuted Monday but was capped at around 500 doses daily. State Farm Stadium started 24-hour operations in Glendale on Jan. 11 and has administered more than 100,000 shots.
Appointments at both stadiums had been fully booked through February, but the state announced Tuesday afternoon that 21,000 spots would be added at Phoenix Muni for Feb. 5-18. Sign-ups for the new appointments will begin at 9 a.m. Wednesday.
Arizona Health Director Dr. Christ said during a press conference Monday that significant increases could be several weeks away.
“We’ve been letting them know we’ll take whatever extra vaccine you have, because we have the capacity in Arizona,” she said.
Only people in phase 1A (front-line health care workers, emergency medical services workers and staff and residents at long-term care facilities) or the priority segment of phase 1B (educators, child care providers, law enforcement and adults 65 and older) are eligible to register at state-run sites.
Eligibility can vary at sites run by counties and other distributors. For example, the age cutoff is 75 for priority 1B at Maricopa County’s points of dispensing.
The state health department website has a vaccine-finder page with a map of locations and information about registration.
