Supply shortages delay vaccine effort in Arizona

Arizona on Thursday reported 1,143 additional COVID-19 cases and 213 deaths while health officials in some areas said bad weather delayed vaccination deliveries, causing cancellations and the rescheduling of appointments.

The latest figures released by the Department of Health Services increased Arizona's pandemic totals to 802,198 cases and 15,276 deaths.

Arizona continued to see declines in COVID-19 hospitalizations and seven-day rolling averages of confirmed cases and deaths, according to data from the state's coronavirus dashboard and The COVID Tracking Project.

The Moderna vaccine is the bulk of the doses that have not yet arrived in the state, said Dr. Cara Christ, director of the state Department of Health Services.

Barring more weather issues, she expects another Moderna shipment to arrive the beginning of next week.

Christ spoke from Tucson, where a third state-run mass vaccination site opened Thursday at the University of Arizona.

It will eventually become an around-the-clock operation when the supply of doses increases.

Like the other two sites in Phoenix, people here only receive the Pfizer vaccine.

Because of delivery delays, Prescott-based Yavapai Regional Medical Center moved Wednesday afternoon vaccination appointments to Feb. 24.

In Tucson, Pima County health officials said about 2,800 vaccination appointments from either Wednesday or Thursday through Saturday at Tucson Medical Center, Tucson Convention Center and Banner South could be postponed “if new supplies do not arrive in the next few days."

Coconino County health officials on Wednesday canceled and planned to reschedule first-dose appointments for an estimated 1,800 people scheduled for Thursday and Friday at several locations in Flagstaff.

To date, over 1.3 million doses of vaccine have been administered to over 1 million people in Arizona, Christ said.

This includes 332,000 who have received both doses of either Pfizer or Moderna.

(Image Credit: AP)