Pima County Expanding Vaccine Eligibility To People 65 And Up

TUCSON, AZ — Adults over the age of 65 will be able to pre-register to receive a coveted coronavirus vaccine this week, Pima County health officials said.

The Pima County Health Department announced in a news release that it will expand its age eligibility at county vaccination sites to include those aged 65 to 69 starting Thursday at 9 a.m. Registration was recently opened to people 70 and older on Feb. 4.

“We are continuing to meet or exceed our goals for moving through the priority groups and look forward to having the state’s new site to help us keep up that pace,” Dr. Theresa Cullen, the Pima County Health Department Director, said in a statement. “The 65 to 69 age group is going to be one of the biggest we have added thus far.”

Adults over the age of 65 have been eligible at the three state-run mass vaccination sites but many of the counties did not expand to the group due to a lack of available doses.

Nearly 200,000 vaccine doses have been administered in Pima County to healthcare workers, educators, first responders and people over the age of 70 and over, according to Arizona Department of Health Services vaccine data.

Pima County health officials said they hope the influx of additional doses promised by the federal government will help speed up the rate of vaccinations in southern Arizona.

“There is still a great deal of demand for appointments among those 70 and older and along with our partners, we are working hard to continue being efficient in getting every dose we can out to our community,” Cullen said. “Right now, the factor limiting our ability to continue expanding eligibility remains the supply of vaccine. We have enough resources to continue accelerating our delivery. We just have to have the vaccine to do it.”

To pre-register, follow the instructions on the county's website or call 520-222-0119 for registration assistance between 8:30 a.m. and 8 p.m daily.