District 2 Supervisor Liz Archuleta — COVID-19 Vaccine: Similarities and Differences

As the United Way of Northern Arizona (UWNA) grows in its commitment to Step Up for Our Youth, it’s important to ensure that the work we do aligns with our three core areas of focus: early childhood development, positive youth development, and supporting families in need.

With that in mind, we’ve been working diligently to transition the Volunteer Income Tax Assistant program to trusted partners so that thousands of local tax filers who have relied on VITA services in the past will continue to have access to them.

We are pleased to announce that United Way of Tucson and Southern Arizona (UWTSA) and Northland Free Tax Assistance (NFTA) will be coordinating efforts to provide VITA services this year in our region. We are grateful to these two organizations for continuing our work so that northern Arizonans will keep receiving the tax refunds and credits they are entitled to.

Most of this work will be done online, using the GetYourRefund.org site. IRS-certified volunteers will call clients initially to ensure they have all the information needed and then once again at the end of the process to review the completed tax documents before filing. If clients are unable to use online services, NFTA will accept a limited number of dropped off tax returns for processing.

If you are a VITA volunteer, we hope that you will consider reaching out to these organizations to offer them your time and expertise.

UWTSA needs volunteers to serve as tax preparers, team support specialists, quality reviewers, assister and interpreters. There will be remote orientation meetings via Zoom on the 2021 tax season and using the GetYourRefund site. Please click here for more information.

Meanwhile, NFTA needs preparers at all levels and may need screeners as well. To volunteer, please contact NFTA through their website here, by emailing them, or by calling (928) 221-4977.

Thanks to all of you as we make this transition with our partners and for continuing to Live United.

The Coconino County Board of Supervisors heard the message clearly at Tuesday’s board meeting: Coconino County’s COVID-19 vaccination efforts are hampered by the lack of available vaccine doses.

Coconino County Interim Health and Human Services Director Kim Musselman informed the Board that the County and medical partners have capacity to administer approximately 1,300 doses of vaccine daily but give fewer than 400 doses each day due to the lack of supply.

“Our County response team and partners have done a great job at building capacity to vaccinate our community quickly. For all of us, the biggest frustration is the lack of vaccine supply which renders us unable to procure and administer the number of doses demanded by our community. We cannot schedule appointments and give people a shot until a dependable schedule of vaccine delivery is made available to the County,” Musselman explained.

Coconino County Health and Human Services (CCHHS) leaders explained that the County learns weekly, usually on Thursdays, how many doses it will receive for the next week. The lack of predictability does not allow the County to anticipate how many appointments to make available. To date, any “new” shipments of vaccine that arrive weekly have been small amounts, usually less than 1,500 total, to spread between all County operations and partners for that week.

“The bottom line is that we do not have enough vaccine doses to meet the demand or the capacity in Coconino County. We have reviewed the President’s Executive Orders which are helpful changes, but it will take weeks, if not months to accelerated vaccine distribution. We want the public to know that we understand your frustration and we encourage people to call their federal and state representatives to intervene and assist us,” Chairman Matt Ryan commented on behalf of the Board of Supervisors.

Residents can find phone numbers for federal and state officials along with vaccine data and availability on the COVID-19 vaccine webpage at coconino.az.gov/covid19vaccine. At the same link, those eligible can check appointment availability and book a vaccine appointment. Those without Internet access or who need help scheduling an appointment can contact the COVID Information line at 928-679-7300.

Coconino County will only administer COVID-19 vaccines approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, which currently includes the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines. There are similarities and differences between the two:

Vaccine supply is very limited. If you are an eligible individual in Phase 1a or part of a priority population in Phase 1b, check back at our website frequently as appointments may become available: https://bit.ly/36hOFUS

Information as of 01/27/2021:

The Coconino County Health and Human Services has issued a new weekly report entitled COVID-19 Coconino County Weekly Update.

The report is updated weekly and includes a COVID-19 situation summary, key takeaways, demographic and geographic information, hospitalizations and testing data related to Coconino County residents.

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