PHOENIX —
Arizonans 65 years and older will be eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine starting next week.
But even before they can sign up, appointments are full and some people in the Phase 1A group can't schedule an appointment.
“Everyday my father calls me, two or three times, did you get me an appointment yet?” said Tammy Cober.
Her parents, Dick and Bonnie, are both 77 and have tried repeatedly to schedule an appointment but technology doesn’t come easy for them.
“When you go to schedule a time, and there’s no time and I have no idea how most people that are older to even do the registration or where to go,” said Cober.
All appointments are booked for January at State Farm Stadium.
On Thursday, Gov. Doug Ducey and ADHS announced that Phoenix Municipal Stadium will be a second state-run vaccination site starting Feb. 1 with registration starting at 9 a.m. Tuesday.
Both Ducey and Dr. Cara Christ are on record that a limited number of doses is what factors into the challenges with people scheduling appointments.
Arizona has administered 217,716 doses of COVID-19 vaccines and has ordered 602,625 doses to date, but only 21,000 have been fully vaccinated. According to the state, just shy of two million people are now in the Phase 1B group.
Eighty-five percent of Arizona’s COVID-related deaths are in that 65 and older group and more than half the state’s hospitalizations.
There are just shy of two million people now in the Phase 1B group although some 65 and up people live in long-term care facilities and skilled nursing facilities.
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