Arizona opens 24/7 COVID-19 vaccination site at State Farm Stadium in Glendale

The state's top health official vaccinated a handful of locals Monday with the NFL stadium in Glendale as the backdrop. The state is transforming the parking lot of the State Farm Stadium into a 24/7 drive-thru COVID-19 vaccination site starting Tuesday.

Arizona Department of Public Health Director Dr. Cara Christ inoculated state educators and law enforcement officials in the Phase 1B group to celebrate the launch of the site, which is the first 24/7 site in the state.

The immunization site in the State Farm Stadium parking lot will vaccinate thousands of first responders, teachers, law enforcement officers and Arizonans 75 and older in the Phase 1B group starting at 12 a.m. Tuesday. This comes as the state expands vaccine eligibility from front-line health care workers and nursing facility staff in the Phase 1A group.

The site, staffed by more than 300 Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona volunteers, will open with a "soft launch," with fewer appointments available in the beginning before ramping up to vaccinate upwards of 6,000 Arizonans per day, Christ said. She added that the 24/7 site has already registered 10,000 people to get vaccinated in January and that appointments for Phase 1B members are still open.

"It's kind of heartwarming," Christ said after administering several vaccinations. "From public health, we don't get to do the direct patient interactions, so it's really nice knowing we get to play a role in providing the life-saving benefit to people."

How do you get vaccinated at the 24/7 site?

Members of Phase 1B interested in getting vaccinated at the site will need to make an appointment online at https://podvaccine.azdhs.gov/. Upon arrival, the individual will drive through a stringed maze of colorful flags to one of 10 drive-thru tents situated in the parking lot southwest of the football field.

The vaccinations are currently by appointment only in 3-minute increments, but Christ said she hopes the site will offer walk-up vaccination capability in the future.

The clarification came after some community members were turned away after driving up to the facility Monday without an appointment hoping to get vaccinated.

Early registration fumbles

When registration for Tuesday appointments at the Glendale site opened Monday morning online, the website server became overwhelmed and some were unable to schedule appointments.

Christ said high demand was expected in the nascent stages and encouraged those experiencing technical difficulties to keep trying because appointments were still available as of Monday afternoon. A help line is available by calling 844-542-8201.

Christ, who on Friday she said was "not happy with the speed" of vaccine distribution, said if appointments at the Glendale facility don't fill up, AZDHS will reach out to partners in the Valley, like Arizona State University, to get professors scheduled for vaccination.

Christ also said efforts will be made to reach out to local law enforcement personnel to make vaccines available to them throughout the day.

How will the state safeguard vaccines if appointments fall through?

As talk over President-elect Joe Biden's possible decision to release nearly all U.S. vaccine doses to the states circulates, concern lingers over how Arizona will effectively distribute and administer all the doses when it has failed to do so already with its current allotment.

Christ said she heard about potential plans to release all doses but had not yet received confirmation.

The state is struggling to quickly distribute its more than 300,000 doses, a concern Christ acknowledged last week. As of Jan. 5, the state had not yet distributed two-thirds of its nearly 315,000 vaccine doses, plus had more on the way. Monday, Christ said that number of people vaccinated had increased to 152,000.

Currently, Christ said Arizona is getting about 83,000 doses of vaccines a week. She said she's confident the 24/7 site will be able to efficiently administer 6,000 doses a day, possibly more. As the state receives more doses of the coronavirus vaccine, Christ said the department will add additional sites.

"This sets the stage for later this year when the challenge will be to get millions vaccinated to build herd immunity needed to defeat COVID-19," Christ said.

A new phase

Glendale police officer Kris Johnston, one of the Phase 1B individuals vaccinated on Monday, said he felt good about receiving the vaccine and was hopeful that it would reduce the spread of the virus in his community.

Christ said this new site will help increase distribution and administration of the COVID-19 vaccine, and that she was grateful for the help provided by Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona, the Department of Emergency and Military Affairs, the $1 million grant from the Ben and Catherine Ivy Foundation.

"These safe and effective vaccines are the light at the end of the tunnel, but that day remains months away," Christ said.

Until then, she encouraged people to keep wearing a mask and stay six feet apart from others.