PHOENIX — According to the Governor's Office, the Arizona Department of Public Health ordered the state's first shipment of the vaccine last weekend.
Arizona is set to receive 383,750 COVID-19 vaccine doses by the end of December.
The initial shipment expected to contain 58,000 doses is set to arrive the week of Dec. 13.
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.
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 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% of the United States’ population.
In September, ADHS rolled out the Pandemic Vaccine Provider On-boarding 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 on-boarding 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.
