(Twitter photo / @ uarizona)
PHOENIX – Arizona Health Director, Dr. Cara Christ, gives some advice to COVID-19 vaccine hunters who were unable to make an appointment online.
Christ said The Mike Broomhead Show by KTAR News 92.3 FM on Tuesday, slots are regularly available when people cancel or reschedule their reservations. However, she said these vacancies do not always appear on the department’s online reservation system.
“What we recommend is to call the call center,” she said.
The call center can be reached at 844-542-8201 and offers help in English and Spanish.
“The most reliable thing is at eight in the morning to call the call center to see if there have been cleared cancellations,” said Christ.
The next big batch of new appointments may be announced soon, although these are usually canceled in a few hours or less.
“We are planning to release some commitments potentially this week and we hope to enter a regular cadence to release those who are moving forward,” said Christ.
If you are among the eligible or essential workers aged 55 and over, there are many options in addition to the four state-run mass vaccination sites.
“We are still receiving limited amounts of vaccine, but you will find it in more and more places,” said Christ. “I think until last Friday we had 440 different pharmacies.”
Other options include community health centers and county health department dispensing points.
“We will be working to get more vaccination sites based in the community and as the vaccine continues to increase, probably in late April, May, you will start seeing it in more and more doctors’ offices,” said Christ.
Christ said the state’s age limit should drop to 45 before April 1. She also said she hopes Arizona will meet President Joe Biden’s goal of extending eligibility to all adults by May 1.
For details on the availability of the COVID-19 vaccine across the state, the ADHS website has a vaccine location page with a location map and registration and eligibility information.
In addition, Maricopa County Public Health has a vaccine map covering the Phoenix metropolitan area and lists pharmacies, government-run locations, health clinics and instant distribution events.