Coconino County has distributed almost five thousand doses of the coronavirus vaccine and is awaiting the next shipment. The county’s goal is to get a vaccine to everyone who wants one, but it’s currently struggling with high demand and a bottleneck in supply. KNAU’s Melissa Sevigny spoke with Kim Musselman, interim director of Coconino County Health and Human Services.
Give me the list of who right now is able to sign up and get a vaccine.
Currently we are serving folks in the 1A priority group, which includes our healthcare workers and also our emergency medical providers. We just on Friday, expanded that to begin this Monday with prioritized groups in 1B. … There’s three of them: we have education and childcare workers which includes teachers and staff, and school and higher education staff who normally interact with other staff and students, bus drivers, cafeteria workers, facility staff, etc. That’s in the first Phase 1B priority group. Law enforcement and protective services, and what I mean by protective services, that’s specifically corrections and other emergency response staff, such as a fire. And then individuals 75 and older…. We opened that up because we had additional vaccine leftover from our 1A population and appointment availability, we wanted to make sure we were ahead of the game and out front, not letting vaccines sit in refrigerators and getting vaccine into our community members…. So we know that folks are concerned that all the appointments are filled through January and February at our Fort Tuthill site, and many of our partner sites also, but I want to assure everyone that more vaccine will be coming and as that comes in and we bring on more partners, more appointments will open. People are not going to have to wait all the way to March to get an appointment.
Okay, that good to hear, so we’re seeing most places in the state are booked up right now, but you’re saying that there are going to be more supplies coming in before March?
Absolutely, and more appointments available long before March. Hopefully lots of other appointments opening up in February and potentially even by the end of this month. I do want to make a point to, because I know lots of people have heard about this, the State Farm Stadium down in Glendale has opened up, they are also serving 1A and 1B prioritized groups, the only difference right now down there is they’re only serving K-12 under the education umbrella…. That is open to anyone in the state.
Let me clarify, so except for the State Farm site in Glendale, people need to get the vaccine in the county where they live, is that right?
That is correct. Absolutely. Not only get the vaccine in county where they live…. but also get their second dose of the vaccine at the same location that they got the first dose.
So if I live in Coconino County and want to sign up, where do I do that?
Probably the best place to do that is to go to our Coconino county website, cococnio.az.gov… When you get in there you will see the status of our vaccine distribution, there are links there to the entities providing appointments, and you will click on those links and schedule your appointment in an available time slot. If have questions or difficulty getting online, or you have limited Internet or access, then you can also call—we have a call center, of where we are assisting folks, so you can call our call center. Right now our hours are 8am-7pm and that number is 928-679-7300. Someone can assist you in terms of even registering.
Kim Musselman, thanks for speaking with me today.
More vaccine information:
Coconino County: https://www.coconino.az.gov/2547/Vaccine-Info
You can register for a vaccine at the state site in Glendale if you are a healthcare worker, K-12 teacher, childcare worker, protective service worker, or age 75 or older: https://podvaccine.azdhs.gov/
You need to bring proof of employment or age to show you are eligible for a vaccine, and an insurance card if you have one. The vaccine is free of charge regardless of insurance status.
