Northern Arizona’s first state-run COVID vaccine site to open in Flagstaff

PHOENIX – Northern Arizona is getting its first state-run COVID-19 mass vaccination site, officials announced Friday.

The indoor site will launch April 19 at the University Union Fieldhouse at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, according to a press release.

That brings the total of open or planned state-run sites to seven, with the number of locations outside metro Phoenix increasing to three.

“We will continue to expand vaccination opportunities throughout the entire state as vaccine supply increases,” Gov. Doug Ducey said in the release.

“These safe and effective vaccines are the way back to normal life and protecting everyone, especially our most vulnerable.”

Vaccine Update:

The state is partnering with @CoconinoCounty, @NAU and @NAHFlagstaff to open a #COVID19 vaccination site in Flagstaff on Monday, April 19. More information on the site and vaccine availability: https://t.co/ol0WHMvbLI @AZDHS

— Doug Ducey (@dougducey) April 9, 2021

The new site — an Arizona Department of Health Services partnership with Coconino County, NAU and Northern Arizona Healthcare — will start out with hours of 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. seven days a week and offer about 1,000 appointments daily.

Flagstaff will join Tucson and Yuma as the home of state-run mass vaccination sites outside the Phoenix area. Also, all three of the state’s public universities will have sites before the end of the month.

Within the next two weeks, the Valley will have four state-run sites, all indoors after a series of changes in response to the rising temperatures are completed.

The drive-thru site in the parking lot of Glendale’s State Farm Stadium, which transitioned from 24/7 service to overnight shifts (5 p.m.-9 a.m.) this week, will close up shop on April 23 and be replaced by a walk-up site inside nearby Gila River Arena.

The Chandler-Gilbert Community College parking lot operation closed last week and was replaced Monday by the state’s first drive-thru indoor site, located in Mesa at the Dexcom distribution center near Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport.

On Thursday, the state announced that its Phoenix Municipal Stadium parking lot operations will cease this weekend and be replaced Monday by a site inside Arizona State University’s Desert Financial Arena, about 3 miles away in Tempe.

The state also announced this week that it was opening an indoor walk-up site at WestWorld of Scottsdale on April 22.

If no other changes are made, the University of Arizona in Tucson will be the only remaining state-run site with outdoor service, although the state has a heat plan to potentially move it indoors in May. The other active site outside the Phoenix area launched March 29 inside the Yuma Civic Center.

The following week’s worth of appointments for the state-run sites, which use the Pfizer vaccine, 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.

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