Essential workers to get Maricopa County’s initial batch of 1-shot vaccine
Mar 9, 2021, 10:35 AM | Updated: 2:26 pm
Adams 12 Five Star Schools District RN Tiffany Karschamroon draws a dose from a vial of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine, the newest vaccine approved by the U.S. FDA for emergency use, at an event put on by the Thornton Fire Department on March 6, 2021 in Thornton, Colorado. (Photo by Michael Ciaglo/Getty Images)
(Photo by Michael Ciaglo/Getty Images)
PHOENIX – Maricopa County said it received its first batch of one-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccines on Monday and is allocating the shots to essential workers.
The county received 33,900 doses of the newly approved vaccine, Maricopa County Communications Director Fields Moseley told KTAR News 92.3 FM in an email Tuesday.
The Johnson & Johnson version was the third to gain approval from U.S. regulators and is easier to ship and store than the two-shot vaccines created by Moderna and Pfizer.
Mosely said that employees of Valley Metro, the Phoenix area’s public transit system, would be among the essential workers to receive the shots.
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He said other employers and partners will also get some of the Johnson & Johnson batch, with details expected later Tuesday.
Under the Arizona Department of Health Services’ newly adopted hybrid vaccine distribution plan, the state-run sites shifted their focus to doling out shots by age, and counties are in charge of determining how to vaccinate other priority groups. All adults age 55 and older gained eligibility last week.
The essential workers group included in the full phase 1B of the state vaccine plan spans a wide range of occupations, including grocery workers, transportation, construction, utility workers, media and golf course employees.
Some Arizona counties already have made their allocations available to essential workers, but Maricopa, the state’s largest county, hadn’t yet expanded beyond the priority segments of phase 1B or the designated age groups.
Local distribution strategies could include employer-based events for essential occupations as well as community points of dispensing.
For details about statewide vaccine availability, the Arizona Department of Health Services website has a vaccine-finder page with a map of locations and information about registration and eligibility.
Maricopa County Public Health also has a vaccine map that covers metro Phoenix and includes pharmacies, government-run sites, health clinics and pop-up distribution events.
