Arizona no longer requiring COVID-19 vaccine appointments at state sites

PHOENIX — Arizona health officials on Tuesday announced the state is no longer requiring COVID-19 vaccine appointments at its state-run sites.

“The appointment numbers clearly suggest that we’ve accommodated a large share of Arizonans who are able to schedule appointments well in advance,” Dr. Cara Christ, director of the Arizona Department of Health Services, said in a press release.

“State-run sites continue to vaccinate many thousands every day and there is now room for those who simply want to walk in at their convenience.”

Christ suggested to still make an appointment to shorten registration times since personal and insurance information will already be loaded in the state’s system.

The Tucson mass-vaccination site had already started taking walk-ins prior to Tuesday’s announcement.

Overall, appointments at the seven state-run facilities haven’t been as difficult to snatch up in recent weeks.

As of Monday morning, nearly 60,000 first-dose appointments to receive the Pfizer vaccine were still open out of the 74,000 that were made available last Friday.

“When demand for vaccination outpaced supply, requiring appointments was absolutely necessary at state-run sites,” Christ said.

“As we move into the next phase of COVID-19 vaccination, with supply meeting and even exceeding the current demand, we don’t want making an appointment to be a barrier to getting vaccinated.”

ADHS’ dashboard on Tuesday showed that 4,888,954 vaccine doses have been administered in the state, with 2,880,130 people (40.1% of the state’s population) having received at least one shot and 2,186,715 people fully vaccinated.

All adults across Arizona are eligible to receive COVID-19 vaccines, with the minimum age at 16 for the Pfizer shot and 18 for other approved 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.

Appointments can still be booked online at https://podvaccine.azdhs.gov/ or by calling 844-542-8201.

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