PHOENIX – Arizona Governor Doug Ducey issued an Executive Order on Wednesday to speed up access to the state’s COVID-19 vaccine.
In a statement released on Wednesday afternoon, the governor’s office says Ducey plans to streamline distribution and establish additional vaccination sites.
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Authorities say that instead of each county having its own implementation plans, Ducey wants the Arizona Department of Health Services (ADHS) to implement a state-led allocation model to ensure a uniform approach to vaccinating Arizonans from high risk and high priority.
In a tweet on Wednesday afternoon, the governor said in part: “This is a health emergency and we need all levels of government and our health system to operate as such. Vaccines do no good in a freezer” .
Across the country, news of delays in the distribution of #COVID-19 vaccines are being reported. Although Arizona has avoided many of these problems, any delay in vaccinations given to Arizonans is unacceptable. 1 /
– Doug Ducey (@dougducey) December 30, 2020
In addition, the governor says that the state will report daily vaccine administration data in each municipality, providing full transparency to the public about the vaccine’s distribution across the state.
Local health departments must also notify ADHS within 24 hours before proceeding to the next phase of vaccine distribution. Ducey says this will ensure that Arizonans have quick access to information to make informed decisions about their health and that of their loved ones.
For more information on the state’s response to COVID-19, visit the Arizona Department of Health Services.