Covid-19 Vaccine Update 1/5/21

Submitted by Anonymous on Tue, 01/05/2021 - 08:38

Governor Doug Ducey issued an Executive Order last week to rapidly expand access to the COVID-19 vaccine by streamlining distribution throughout Arizona and establishing additional vaccination sites.  

 

The Governor also announced that the state will be reporting daily on county-by-county vaccine administration data, providing full transparency for the public on the distribution of the vaccine across the state. Local health departments must also provide notice to ADHS within 24 hours of proceeding to the next phase of vaccine distribution. This will ensure that Arizonans have quick access to information to make informed decisions about their health and the health of their loved ones. 

 

Dr. Cara Christ promised that the state will post information on its website about what is the current stage of distribution. That is critical as people are divided into priority groups based on everything from where they work to age and their own medical risk.  ADHS will have a single point of contact where any Arizonan can learn where they can get vaccinated anywhere in the state. But one of the biggest changes is going to be that Dr. Christ and her agency will be taking possession of some of the state’s allocation.  “Our county health departments really know their community providers the best,” she said. Dr. Christ said, however, that doesn’t always work. She said that companies such as CVS and Walgreens, both of which are administering the vaccines throughout Arizona, “need to work on a statewide basis. We’ll be allocating some of the vaccine directly to them as it becomes available.”

 

Happy New Year!  After celebrating the holidays amidst this pandemic, and perhaps you spent time with friends and family – had lunch in a restaurant, etc., we should recognize that one slip in not following the CDC guidelines to a tee – it doesn’t mean all is lost.  Each of us needs to weigh the risks against our own values, keeping in mind that individual choices affect the collective.  If you’d like to assess your risk before going out, check out Brown University’s “My COVID Risk” @ https://mycovidrisk.app/.