Dr. Cara Christ, director of Arizona’s Department of Health Services, will receive a COVID-19 vaccine in Phoenix on December 16, 2020. (Twitter Photo / @ AZDHS)
PHOENIX – A day after he was one of the first Arizonans to be vaccinated against COVID-19, the state’s health director said Thursday that the general public could access the footage in March.
But it will be months longer before the vaccines are expected to tame the worst pandemic in modern history.
“It will probably be a while before we have enough to get back to … normal, maybe by summer,” said Dr. Cara Christ KTAR News 92.3 FM’s The Mike Broomhead Show.
Christ, who was among a small group of health workers in Arizona to receive the vaccine on Wednesday, said the state will be able to deliver “tens of thousands” of doses per day at full capacity.
“By then you can get it from the pharmacy and your doctor,” she said. “It will be more abundant in the community.”
But first, the state distributes its first shipments to health workers and residents and staff of long-term care facilities, populations classified under Phase 1A of the Arizona Department of Health Department’s COVID-19 vaccination plan. The plan estimates that the first phase will involve approximately 375,000 people.
“We’re working to get those healthcare providers screened and make appointments so they can get their vaccine,” said Christ.
“We are also working to get our long-term residents in our skilled nursing facilities immediately vaccinated.”
The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, the first emergency vaccine approved for use in the United States, requires two injections over several weeks. The Moderna vaccine, which is expected to receive approval in the coming days, will also require two injections.
A limited number of locations in Maricopa and Pima counties started giving injections to health workers on Thursday.
The vaccine rollout begins as multiple coronavirus statistics have hit the highest level they have ever been in Arizona.
“We expect our primary care health workers to be vaccinated in early January, hopefully with their first injection,” said Christ.
There are two additional priority stages to go through, representing more than half of the state population, before the general public can be vaccinated.
“We expect to move into the next stages in January and probably get our Stage 1B people in mid-January, early February,” said Christ.
Phase 1B, with approximately 800,000 people, includes adults with high-risk medical conditions in communal living settings and employees whose jobs are classified as essential. That includes teachers, law enforcement, counselors, and grocery workers.
“Much of the general public will be part of those essential workers because that includes transportation, food workers, energy and utilities,” said Christ.
Stage 1C involves an estimated 2.2 million adults with certain underlying medical conditions and 1.2 million Arizonans aged 65 or older.