Phoenix Municipal Stadium vaccine site moving indoors to ASU arena

PHOENIX – The state-run COVID-19 vaccination site at the Phoenix Municipal Stadium parking lot will be replaced by an indoor operation at Arizona State University’s Desert Financial Arena next week, officials announced Thursday.

It’s the latest in a series of indoor moves for state-run mass vaccination sites in response to rising temperatures.

The site at the ASU basketball arena in Tempe will open Monday. People with second-dose appointments at Phoenix Municipal Stadium are being notified of the change, according to a press release. The two locations are about 3 miles apart.

Phoenix Muni, the home field of ASU’s baseball team, started administering vaccines on Feb. 1 in partnership with the university and has given more than 171,000 doses, according to the release.

“Arizona State University has been an invaluable partner and resource as the state of Arizona has developed mass vaccination sites that have now administered more than 1 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine,” Arizona Department of Health Services Director Dr. Cara Christ said in the release.

“Phoenix Municipal Stadium has been a tremendous success, and we look forward to continued progress as this operation moves indoors at ASU.”

Parking will be free for the Desert Financial Arena site, which is close to a light rail station and other mass transit options.

The shots will be given on the main concourse of the arena, and the seating area will be available for people to spend their 15-30 minutes of observation afterward.

On April 2, the state announced that the State Farm Stadium parking lot site in Glendale would close April 23 and operations would move indoors to nearby Gila River Arena the next day.

Last weekend, the Chandler-Gilbert Community College outdoor site gave its last jab. It was replaced Monday by the state’s only drive-thru indoor site at the Dexcom distribution center near Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport.

Also on Monday, the state announced that a new walk-up site will open April 22 at WestWorld of Scottsdale.

Once all the changes go into effect, the only outdoor state-run site operating will be the one at the University of Arizona in Tucson. The recently opened Yuma Civic Center site is an indoor operation.

The following week’s worth of appointments for the state-run sites are released every Friday at 11 a.m. Appointments can be booked online at https://podvaccine.azdhs.gov/ or by calling 844-542-8201.

All adults across Arizona are eligible to receive COVID-19 vaccines, with the minimum age at 16 for the Pfizer shot and 18 for Moderna or Johnson & Johnson versions.

For details about statewide vaccine availability, the ADHS website has a vaccine-finder page showing locations and registration information.

For information about metro Phoenix vaccine availability, Maricopa County Public Health has a locator page that lists pharmacies, government-run sites, health clinics and pop-up distribution events.

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