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(AP Photo / Hans Pennink)
PHOENIX – With the first doses of the coronavirus vaccine expected to be available in Arizona this month, state health officials on Friday presented a distribution plan and list of priorities for those seeking treatment .
The plan is a more solidified – but not final – version of an Arizona Department of Health Services draft posted in October for vaccine distribution.
ADHS Director Dr Cara Christ revealed the state is expected to receive more than 380,000 doses by the end of December, with the first batch of around 60,000 doses due to arrive the week of December 13 .
Initial doses will be reserved for individuals in the priority group, which is expected to include approximately 400,000 eligible Arizonans. This includes healthcare workers, long-term care residents who are considered to be at high risk, and staff in these facilities.
The vaccine should be available to people in this group within 48 hours of receiving them, according to Christ.
“There are a lot of people with limited vaccines,” Christ said at a media briefing. “We will be providing this opportunity to these high risk groups by the start of the year.”
More than 1,000 provider sites in the state have initiated the onboarding process for vaccine distribution and approximately 350 sites have been approved for this.
Most sites will receive vaccine shipments directly, according to Christ.
Christ also wants as many mass vaccination sites as possible. She hopes they are similar to the large drive-in sites currently being used to test for COVID-19.
Faster distribution would likely allow members of the secondary priority group – especially educators – to access the vaccine more quickly.
Members of the secondary priority group also include essential workers such as law enforcement personnel and food service employees.
People in the secondary group are expected to have access to the vaccine in early January.
It all depends on how quickly the state is able to begin vaccinating the initial group and when the emergency use authorization is approved.
“We plan to get the vaccine to some of our high priority groups probably around the beginning of January,” Christ said.
The Moderna and Pfizer vaccines are the two that will initially be available to Arizonans.
Both vaccines require two doses which will need to be given 21 or 28 days apart to ensure complete vaccination.
Christ expects “hundreds of millions” of vaccines to be available to the general public “by March or April”.
“That’s when we think it will finally be open to the general population,” Christ said.
Arizona reported 5,680 new coronavirus cases and 64 other deaths on Friday, bringing the state’s total to 352,101 COVID-19 infections and 6,885 deaths since the start of the pandemic.
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