Gov. Doug Ducey announced Wednesday that additional workers are being added to meet the high demand at state-run COVID-19 vaccine sites.
State health officials said Tuesday that they were experiencing long lines outside State Farm Stadium in Glendale, citing multiple issues, including the hot weather.
“The State Farm Stadium site is among the highest-performing mass vaccination sites in the U.S.,” Ducey said in a statement. “This past weekend alone, we administered more than 10,000 doses per day. We’re committed to keeping up the pace.”
Ducey said state staff members are stepping up to supplement existing paid staff and volunteers at vaccine sites.
He said nearly 90 additional National Guard personnel will also join the vaccination effort Thursday.
More than 900 National Guard personnel are already deployed to support the COVID-19 mission in Arizona.
Meanwhile, on Wednesday, Arizona health officials reported 733 additional confirmed COVID-19 cases and 26 more deaths. But officials said about 200 of the additional cases were from records cleanups involving cases occurring over the entire pandemic.
The state’s pandemic totals increased to 841,811 cases and 16,967 deaths, according to the state’s coronavirus dashboard.
Of the 733 additional cases, 202 were cases newly reported for Apache and Navajo counties in northeastern Arizona after officials reviewed records provided by neighboring New Mexico where facilities tested or treated Arizona residents, Department of Health Services spokesman Steve Elliott said.
Arizona’s seven-day rolling averages of daily new cases dropped from 868.3 on March 15 to 547.7 two weeks later on Monday, while the average of daily deaths dropped from 35.4 to 20.4 during the same period, according to Johns Hopkins University data.
The number of infections is thought to be far higher than reported because many people have not been tested, and studies suggest people can be infected with the virus without feeling sick.
Republished with the permission of the Associated Press.
