While we are excited to expand eligibility, there is still a limited supply of vaccine.  People looking for an appointment tomorrow at podvaccine.azdhs.gov or through a local pharmacy or community provider should keep in mind that appointments will likely go quickly.  The good news is that we have vaccinated more than 70% of Maricopa County residents over the age of 75 and more than 60% of residents over the age of 65.  This accounts for a majority of those at the highest risk of serious illness due to COVID-19.

Food banks have seen high demand over the past year with many members of our community needing help putting food on the table for the first time in their lives.  Food bank workers and volunteers around the Valley worked diligently and compassionately to meet this need.  Today, at United Food Bank in Mesa, many of those workers got their first dose of COVID-19 vaccine thanks to a partnership between Maricopa County Public Health and the Arizona Food Bank Network.  This is one of several ways Public Health is vaccinating frontline essential workers around the Valley.  We are so excited to be getting vaccine to these important community helpers!

In the past year, Maricopa County has distributed more than 15.3 million pieces of personal protective equipment.  That includes 8.6 million gloves, 2.6 million surgical masks, and over a million testing supplies.  In fact, if you put all the gloves, gowns, surgical masks, N95 masks, and face shields we’ve distributed to community partners over the past year, you could cover a football field one foot deep!  Thank you to all the staff in the Unified Command involved in getting this much-needed protection to our first responders, health care providers, schools, and other partners, and thanks to people and groups that donated PPE for this effort when it was hard to find!