Arizona’s 21,000 new COVID-19 vaccine spots filled in under an hour

PHOENIX – All 21,000 of the appointments for COVID-19 vaccines at Phoenix Municipal Stadium made available Wednesday morning were snapped up in less than an hour.

The Arizona Department of Health Services said the spots were all filled 39 minutes after registration began at 9 a.m.

The system was still showing openings at around 10:30 a.m., however, an issue the department said it was working to correct.

We are working to fix an issue in the system showing that there are still appointments available when there are not.

— AZ Dept of Health (@AZDHS) February 3, 2021

The state announced Tuesday afternoon that the appointments for Friday through Feb. 18 would be made available Wednesday morning.

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 for vaccination at the two state-run mass-vaccination sites.

Currently, there are no openings at State Farm Stadium in Glendale or Phoenix Muni, but more could be added if the state’s vaccine allotment increases. No appointments have been offered beyond the end of February.

Both sites are operating below capacity because the state hasn’t received enough doses from the federal supply of Moderna and Pfizer vaccines.

Arizona officials have been pushing federal authorities to send more doses to the state. ADHS said it plans to open more mass-vaccination sites around the state when the supply can support them.

The White House said Tuesday that 1 million doses will be distributed to some 6,500 pharmacies across the country starting next week. The administration is also boosting by 500,000 the weekly allocation of vaccines sent directly to states and territories for the coming weeks, up to 10.5 million.

The ADHS website has a vaccine-finder page with a map of locations and information about registration.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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