The Arizona Department of Health Services (ADHS) and its Vaccine Task Force have worked around the clock to ensure an effective and efficient distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine once it’s approved and distributed to states.
Arizona is expected to receive 383,750 COVID-19 vaccine doses by the end of December 2020. ADHS placed the order for the first shipment this weekend, and it is due to arrive the week of December 13th.
In the first week, the vaccine will be distributed to Maricopa and Pima Counties. Maricopa will receive approximately 47,000 doses and Pima will receive approximately 11,000 doses, totaling approximately 58,000 doses.
In the following week, in addition to Maricopa and Pima Counties, vaccine doses will be distributed to all 15 counties, at least four tribes, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Pharmacy Partnership program for vaccination at skilled nursing facilities. Every skilled nursing facility in Arizona has opted to participate in the CDC Program, which will provide vaccinations to all residents and staff in the facilities statewide.
Arizona’s COVID-19 vaccine distribution plan prioritizes health care workers, residents of long-term care facilities, educators and vulnerable populations. ADHS will promptly order vaccine doses made available from the federal government who will directly ship the vaccine to those providing the vaccinations. The federal government will distribute the vaccine to states based on population, and Arizona’s population accounts for approximately 2 percent of the United States’ population.
In September, ADHS rolled out the Pandemic Vaccine Provider Onboarding Tool to facilitate identification and enrollment of health care providers interested in serving as COVID-19 vaccinators. As of this week, more than 1,214 providers have started the onboarding process and 593 have completed the process and are approved to receive the vaccine. Throughout Arizona, health care professionals including doctors, nurses, emergency medical technicians, pharmacists and more are partnering to administer the vaccine.
