January 26 Updates

As the Frys Retail Program begins to receive federal COVID vaccine at various locations in Arizona, our webpage will be updated today with the Fry's link for scheduling an appointment: frysfood.com/rx/guest/get-vaccinated

This will be the link used in the upcoming days. Some locations have not received their supply of vaccine yet and appointments may not available at this time.

When you are on Frys' website, please note you can put in any zipcode to see which Frys will vaccinate. Having tried the link, we noticed once you select the pharmacy location, be sure to click the box that comes up saying COVID-19 vaccine, in order to be taken to the page that says whether appointments are available.

January 25 Updates

While this is starting to sound like a broken record, as the CDC reminded us this weekend, manufacturing very large quantities of vaccine takes time. The goal is for everyone who wants the vaccine to be able to easily get it. However, until large quantities are available there will be difficulty in getting appointments at local county vaccine locations. For clarification, Pinal County, like other local public health departments, is only allocated a certain amount weekly and we always order the maximum we are allowed.

We did get a slight increase in our order for next week which is a step in the right direction. Likewise, other promising information is that Johnson and Johnson may be getting closer to applying for Emergency Use Authorization of their COVID vaccine. It appears that the data from their clinical trials may be ready for scientific review at the end of January or beginning of February. While no exact dates are published, maybe another vaccine will also be available by the end of February.

January 22 Updates

The Federal Pharmacy program (Frys and Safeway/Albertsons) is tentatively scheduled to start in mid February. An exact date is not yet known. The pharmacies that will be participating will be located on: azhealth.gov/findvaccine.

The pharmacy locations will also be listed on the Pinal Public Health vaccine page once they let us know how people can schedule for the vaccine.

January 21 Updates

59 Fry's and Safeway/Albertsons pharmacy stores will receive Moderna doses over the next week as part of the federal retail transfer program and county allocation. Important items to note regarding retail pharmacies offering COVID-19 vaccination:

• Pharmacies that receive vaccine via the federal retail transfer program are intended to target 65+ populations in addition to priority 1A and 1B-1 populations.


• Pharmacies that receive vaccine via a county allocation currently are targeting populations as directed by the County (1A and 1B-1)


• The retail locations receiving vaccine will provide vaccinations on a first come first served basis by appointment only, and more information regarding registration requirements and eligibility will be available on the Vaccine Finder map by location at azhealth.gov/findvaccine.


• The list of pharmacies in Pinal County, (identified by their corporate offices as sites that will administer vaccine through the federal allocation), will be listed tomorrow.

January 20th, 2021

At this time, all appointments are fully booked for the Public Health Clinics. As other community providers receive small shipments this week, their registration links may open up on our Pinal County Public Health Covid Vaccine Locations webpage. However, Pinal County was only allowed 3,500 new doses this week and some shipments from this order have not yet arrived. Please – no walk-ins to the public health clinics.

If anyone is 75 and older, does not have internet access, and needs help to schedule an appointment, please call the Central Appointment Desk for help at 1-866-960-0633.

Please understand due to limited vaccine supply, appointments may be several weeks out. Thank you for your patience.

January 19, 2021

We have been advised that the new ADHS state site AT Phoenix Stadium (for which registration opened today) is for those 65-74 and does not include those with high risk medical conditions.

Please note that Pinal County Public Health and our Community Partners who are vaccinating are currently still vaccinating the 1A and 1B-1 groups only due to limited vaccine supply.

For those in the 1B-2 that are ages 65-74 (which we are not able to accommodate yet), registration for a State vaccine site begins today for appointments in February at the Phoenix Municipal Stadium. The registration link to the state site is: podvaccine.azdhs.gov/

January 15, 2021

Pinal County recognizes the vulnerabilities and needs of all persons in the 1a and 1b categories. We have revised our early vaccination group to now include a 1B-1 and 1B-2 category. We are currently vaccinating the 1B-1 category. Limited vaccine supply to Pinal County has contributed to the frustration for those attempting to get the vaccine. We have received 15,800 doses to administer to over 75,000 people in the existing 1a/1b group. All of these are accounted for.

A reminder - if you received dose#1 there is a matching dose#2 set aside for you so please keep your appointments.

Once vaccine arrive, it is administered quickly or scheduled for administration. It is a misrepresentation to the public to suggest that we have vaccines to administer when the order we were allowed this coming week is only 3,500 doses. We are most grateful for the patience of those who understand this predicament. Leadership is fighting to get more vaccines for our county.

Vaccine Priority Groups and Video

You can receive the vaccine based on if you live or work in Pinal County for our COVID-19 Vaccination groups. The groups are below:

• 1A: Health Care Professionals (including EMS and Paramedic) and Long Term Care Residents
• 1B-1: Persons 75 years and older, Essential Workers & Infrastructure. This includes: Law Enforcement, Corrections Officers, Education Sector, Food & Agriculture, Utilities, and Transportation.
• 1B-2: Adults with high risk medical conditions and Adults 65 to 74.
• 1C: Remainder of the population.

Please note this is a fluid situation that changes as more information is provided by the CDC and AZDHS.

Check out this video explaining how the COVID-19 vaccine works: