(Photo by Eva Marie Uzcategui Trinkl / Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
PHOENIX – Arizona has not received the full allocation of COVID-19 vaccine doses from Pfizer for next week, according to the Arizona Department of Health.
Health officials said in a press release on Friday that the state expects to order 70,200 doses of vaccine, but can only order 41,925.
The department has contacted the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for an explanation, but is awaiting a response, according to the statement.
In addition, 119,400 Moderna doses have been ordered by the state and are expected to arrive between December 21 and December 23. Maricopa County will receive 18,500 of the Moderna doses, and Pima County will receive 17,000.
The Modern Vaccine is currently awaiting federal approval.
In recent days, governors and health leaders in more than a dozen states have said the federal government has told them that next week’s delivery of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine will be lower than originally planned.
Little explanation was given, leaving many state officials perplexed.
Arizona health officials reported 7,635 new coronavirus cases and 142 additional deaths on Friday, bringing the state’s documented total to 442,671 COVID-19 infections and 7,819 deaths.
It was the third day in a row, with at least 100 deaths reported. Until Thursday, there were never three-digit days back.
The state’s largest hospital system, Banner Health, reported Friday that it needs refrigerated trucks to cope with rising deaths.
One truck is currently being used at Banner – University Medical Center Phoenix, while another truck is waiting at a Banner storage facility, said Dr. Marjorie Bessel, clinical director of Banner Health.
The first US doses of coronavirus vaccine were given on Monday and already this week, hundreds of thousands of people, mostly health workers, have been vaccinated. It is expected that the pace will increase next week, assuming that Moderna obtains federal authorization for its vaccine.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.