Arizona health officials talk about availability of second doses of COVID-19 vaccine

PHOENIX – As of January 16, Arizona has been ranked among the highest in the country for Covid-19 case and all eyes are on the vaccine deployment, which continues to be slower than initially expected.

The state announced earlier this week that it would expand Phase 1B of vaccine distribution to people aged 65 to 74.

“At the end of the day, there are a lot of people in Category 1B. A lot more people than we have vaccine available,” said Will Humble, executive director of the Arizona Public Health Association.

He adds: “The more people you add, the less likely you are to forward them for the second vaccine.”

He says there were already around a million people in phase 1B, meaning the state would have needed around two million doses. Then you factor in the booster booster, which should be given three to four weeks later.

Now, taking into account the population 65 and over, that means an additional 250,000 people are added to the mix.

“You add 250,000 to the extra million. It just creates saturation in that category,” Humble said.

Arizona Department of Health Services Director Dr Cara Christ told a news conference this week that the state is allocating vaccines to local partners and considering the need for a second dose with any modification.

“We got our doses so that we could continue to vaccinate those who already had the first dose and had that 21 or 28 day wait period,” Christ said.

If you get the first shot and can’t get a date for the second shot, you’ll still have some degree of protection, says Humble, but nowhere near as much protection as if you had to get both.

For more information on COVID-19 vaccines in Arizona, visit this link.

MAP: Arizona coronavirus case by zip code

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