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Arizona health officials focus on community-based COVID-19 vaccination efforts to increase numbers

State-run vaccination sites have seen decreasing traffic in the months since the sites launched, going from 170,000 doses a week to only 13,000 doses in all of May.

ARIZONA, USA — After almost seven months of operations, Arizona’s state-run vaccination sites are closing as health officials turn their focus to community-based vaccinations.

So far, nearly 50% of Arizonans have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, and about 3.1 million are considered fully vaccinated. But vaccination appointments at state POD’s have slowed down in the last couple of months.

To boost those numbers, the Arizona Department of Health Services is focused on reaching people in places they are most frequently by increasing the number of neighborhood options, like pharmacies, doctor’s offices, and pop-up clinics.

Hundreds of locations throughout the state offer COVID-19 vaccines, including more than 300 offering the Pfizer doses, which are available to those 12 and older.

State Farm Stadium was nationally recognized, and virtually toured by President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, for dominating vaccination flows that reached nearly 170,000 doses a week.

As the people that wanted to get a shot, got one as soon as they could, the number of people signing up to get immunized slowed, reaching as low as 13,000 doses a week in May.

According to the census, 14.4% of Arizonans 18 and older are hesitant about getting a COVID-19 vaccine. Among the top three reasons for their hesitancy were, lack of trust in the government and the vaccine itself, and concerns about side effects.

As cases, deaths, and hospitalizations related to COVID-19 are going down, Dr. Janis Orlowski, Chief Healthcare officer at the Association of American Medical Colleges said her biggest concern now is the  “super strong variants” that can disrupt the progress made so far in the pandemic.

“Even if you get a mild COVID you can have long term effects. We see [it in the] heart, lung, nervous system, [and] the brain, so don’t put yourself at risk,” she added.

If there is a sudden or significant increase in demand, health officials said state-operated vaccination sites can start up in just a few days.

“A lot of times us younger people think that ‘you know we don't need to get the vaccine because I’ll be fine,’ but we have to be cognizant of making sure that we are protecting ourselves,” said Kristiana McLarty, a medical student. “We are going around our family members and loved ones that aren't as protected by their immune systems they are going to be a little more vulnerable.”

Along with county health department and community group efforts, the state is doing targeted outreach in underserved areas in Phoenix, Mesa and Yuma County.

If you are still looking to get a vaccine, you can find a list of locations here.

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