Arizona Opens 2nd Mass Coronavirus Vaccination Site

ARIZONA — A second statewide coronavirus vaccination site opened Monday in Phoenix, Arizona health officials said.

Following the success of the mass vaccination site at State Farm Stadium, the Arizona Department of Health Services has officially launched a second one at Phoenix Municipal Stadium, which is owned by Arizona State University. State Farm has launched more than 100,000 Arizonans since it opened on Jan. 11, the state said.

“Arizonans want this life-saving vaccine and we have capacity to get it to them, but we need more doses from our federal partners," Gov. Doug Ducey said in a statement. "We will open up more sites across Arizona once we get more supply."

While State Farm Stadium, open 24/7, is vaccinating thousands every day, Phoenix Municipal is starting with just 500 appointments per day. The latter will only operate between 7 a.m. and 5 p.m. every day. Officials hope to scale up the second site's operations and perhaps add a third state site when more doses become available. All appointments at both sites are currently booked through February.

Currently, the state sites are vaccinating Arizonans over the age of 65, first responders and educators. Several counties, including Maricopa and Pima, have said they do not have the doses available to expand their age eligibility and are continuing to focus vaccination efforts on Arizonans over the age of 75.

Ducey reiterated the state's need for additional vaccine doses during a Sunday interview on CNN's "State of the Union." The Republican governor said he has asked President Joe Biden and his administration for an additional 300,000 shots, in part to vaccinate Arizona's vast number of winter visitors.

“We’re in danger of running out of the vaccines we have,” he told anchor Dana Bash. “All we can do is distribute what we receive from the federal government and from the private sector.”

Volunteers with Arizona Complete Health and the Arizona Diamondbacks are staffing the new vaccination site. Walmart will provide pharmacy support and ASU will offer up additional staffing, supplies and resources. ASU has also been instrumental in statewide coronavirus testing efforts.

“ASU takes fundamental responsibility for the communities we serve, so when the state called and requested assistance in running its vaccination sites, we were quick to jump into action,” ASU President Michael Crow said in a statement.

Arizona continues to maintain the highest coronavirus infection rate in the U.S., with the state reporting 3,741 new cases and four additional deaths Monday. The number of people hospitalized, including in ICUs, is continuing to decrease. Arizona health officials announced that three cases of the fast-spreading U.K. variant of the virus had been found in the state over the weekend.