(Photo by Eva Marie Uzcategui Trinkl / Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
PHOENIX – Arizona did not receive the full allotment of COVID-19 vaccine doses from Pfizer in the coming week, according to the Arizona Department of Health Services.
Health officials said in a press release on Friday that the state expected to order 70,200 doses of vaccine, but could only order 41,925.
The department contacted the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for an explanation, but is awaiting a response, the release said.
In addition, 119,400 Moderna doses were ordered by the state and are expected to arrive sometime between December 21 and December 23. Maricopa County will receive 18,500 of the Moderna doses and Pima County will receive 17,000.
The Moderna vaccine is currently awaiting federal approval.
In recent days, governors and health leaders in more than a dozen states have said the federal government has told them next week’s shipping of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine will be less than originally planned.
Little explanation was given, leaving many government officials perplexed.
Arizona health officials reported 7,635 new cases of coronavirus and 142 additional deaths on Friday, increasing the state’s documented total to 442,671 COVID-19 infections and 7,819 fatalities.
It was the third consecutive day with at least 100 reported deaths. Until Thursday there were never days in a row in triple digits.
The state’s largest hospital system, Banner Health, reported Friday that it needs refrigerated trucks to cope with the rise in deaths.
One truck is currently in service at Banner – Phoenix University Medical Center, while another truck is on standby at a Banner storage facility, said Dr. Marjorie Bessel, Banner Health’s Chief Clinical Officer.
The first US doses of the coronavirus vaccine were administered Monday, and hundreds of thousands of people, mostly health workers, have been vaccinated as early as this week. The pace is expected to pick up next week, assuming Moderna gets federal approval for its vaccine.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.