Pima County Prepares For Phase 1B Of Coronavirus Vaccination Plan

TUCSON, AZ — Pima County is preparing to vaccinate those 75 and older, teachers and other essential workers in the next five days.

The county's health department said it is working closely with the Arizona Department of Health Services to enter the next phase of its vaccination plan by Friday. Registration for Phase 1B is not yet available, but it will be provided by phone or online.

The county has announced six sites to start vaccinating more than 275,000 people:

• Tucson Medical Center
• Banner North Cancer Center
• Rillito Racetrack
• University of Arizona
• Kino Banner South/Kino Stadium District
• Tucson Convention Center

While more than half of all Arizona counties have entered this second vaccination phase, Pima County is still wading through Phase 1A, which includes health care workers and long-term care facility residents. Both the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines require two doses, administered 21 or 28 days apart.

To date, 80,525 doses have been sent to the county; 31,866 have been vaccinated.

The coronavirus continues to spread throughout the state as patients fill Arizona hospital beds. Arizona reported 8,559 new cases and 335 new known deaths from the disease on Tuesday — a new daily record for deaths from the virus.

There will be three registration systems as Phase 1B gets underway: one for the Banner Health sites, one for Tucson Medical Center, and one for the Pima County sites, which include the Tucson Convention Center, the university and the Rillito Racetrack.

County officials are still working on the registration systems and testing them, and haven't yet said when people can sign up.