Courtesy image.
COCONINO COUNTY — The Coconino County Board of Supervisors on Jan. 19 reviewed plans from the COVID-19 Emergency Response Team to expand vaccine administration when additional doses of the COVID-19 vaccine become available.
The plans call for expanded administration of the vaccine at Fort Tuthill County Park and at mobile sites throughout Coconino County, along with increased capacity for healthcare and private sector partners to administer the vaccine.
“The Board of Supervisors is preparing for increased vaccine administration when doses become available. We want to move swiftly to get more residents vaccinated and have endorsed plans to expand vaccination sites throughout Coconino County and encourage our partners to increase their capacity, while ensuring the continued availability of testing,” said Chairman Matt Ryan. “This planning and preparation is needed, but we remind all that our ability to vaccinate depends on the vaccine being allocated to the County by the federal and state governments when available.”
The plan presented to the Board of Supervisors today calls for vaccine administration infrastructure to be nearly doubled which, if executed, would result in the ability to administer 929 vaccine doses daily, with a possible goal of over 1,600 doses daily in Coconino County. These doses would be administered by both the County at Fort Tuthill and mobile vaccination sites, as well as by numerous healthcare partners and pharmacies in and around the entire county. This aspirational goal that would vaccinate 100% of the Coconino County population by August 1 is dependent upon significantly increased vaccine availability from the federal government.
“Our goal to vaccinate Coconino County residents as quickly as possible depends on the availability of vaccine from the federal and state governments. The plans we have prepared for the Board of Supervisors will create the capacity that is needed but we must have swift and equitable action from Washington, DC and the State to get vaccine doses to rural Arizona. Coconino County currently leads the state in numbers of people vaccinated per 100,000 population and we want to continue that record-setting pace,” explained Interim Coconino County Health and Human Service Director Kim Musselman.
Coconino County is currently operating a vaccination site for County residents within Phase 1a and priority populations within Phase 1b at Fort Tuthill County Park in Flagstaff. Appointments for the vaccine have been limited due to available doses. First dose appointments for January and February were filled in less than six hours when first opened. Those eligible for Phase 1a and Phase 1b priority groups are encouraged to check for vaccine appointments that may become available if cancellations occur at coconino.az.gov/covid19vaccine. The website includes links to registration opportunities at COVID-19 partner vaccination sites. Those without Internet access or those who need assistance can reach the COVID-19 Information Line at (928) 679-7300.