Arizona Has Administered Over 1M Coronavirus Vaccine Doses

ARIZONA — Arizona has reached a milestone in its efforts to vaccinate the state against the coronavirus.

The Arizona Department of Health Services and Gov. Doug Ducey announced Wednesday that the state had administered over 1 million doses of the vaccine to date. Ducey thanked volunteers, medical professionals and frontline workers for making the milestone possible.

“We’ve reached a major milestone with our one millionth dose,” the governor said in a statement. “The dedication and hard work of many made this accomplishment possible. Nurses, doctors, health technicians, support staff, volunteers — to each and every one of you, thank you. ”

But Ducey also acknowledged that there is still a lot of work to do with demand for the vaccine so high and doses still limited, saying the state is "committed to distributing it safely and efficiently."

The millionth dose was administered sometime today but it is unclear who received it and where, as the state has two mass vaccination sites and providers vaccinating people in all 15 counties.

Arizona received its first shipment of vaccines on Dec. 14 and began administering shots to health care workers that week in Maricopa and Pima Counties. The state opened its first mass vaccination site at State Farm Stadium in Glendale on Jan. 11 and opened its second at Phoenix Municipal Stadium on Feb. 1. A third is planned for the University of Arizona starting next week.

Arizona recently requested an additional 300,000 doses of the vaccine, as well as an additional 300,000 doses per week, from the federal government. The request was denied, officials said.

The news comes as Arizona reported 1,977 new cases and 176 additional deaths from the virus on Wednesday as the infection rate in the state begins to slowly decline.