Ducey takes steps to speed up vaccine administration

In hopes of accelerating Arizona’s sluggish vaccine distribution, Gov. Doug Ducey has released an advisory directing the state’s vaccine providers to track the vaccines they administer and allow for the transfer of vaccines between facilities. 

“The COVID-19 vaccination is our best shot at returning to life as it should be,” Ducey said. “Over the last two weeks, the COVID-19 vaccination site at State Farm Stadium has become a national model for vaccine administration. With adequate vaccine doses, we can build on this success, both at our existing vaccination sites, and at additional sites across the state. This advisory will provide transparency in the pace of vaccination administration, and allow us to direct vaccine doses to where they will be most rapidly distributed.”

 

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Vaccine-administering facilities are now required to report data on their distribution pace to the Arizona Department of Health Services (ADHS). The state will have the capacity to reallocate vaccine doses to facilities where they will be administered the fastest based on this data.

According to ADHS, the state’s two mass vaccination hubs are capable of vaccinating 6,000 to 12,000 Arizonans per day. However, the department said they are lowering the number of appointments at these hubs due to an alleged limited dose supply from the federal government.

Ducey echoed the recent remarks of ADHS director Dr. Cara Christ by calling on the federal government to provide Arizona with more doses, claiming they do not have enough.

“Now, our federal partners need to do their part,” Ducey said. “They need to prioritize quicker distribution of the vaccine to the states, so we can get the vaccine out of freezers, off of shelves, and into the arms of Arizonans.”

The federal government denied Arizona’s request for an additional 300,000 doses this week.

According to the Centers for Disease Control, as of Jan. 26 the state still has over 400,000 unused doses.