Who will get a COVID-19 vaccine first in Arizona? The state has a plan - The Arizona Republic

Arizona's COVID-19 vaccine plan doesn't say for certain who gets priority if supplies are limited, but it does give some details about distribution.

Arizona's COVID-19 vaccine plan doesn't say for certain who gets immunized first when vaccines roll out, but the working document suggests priority will go to a broad category of health care workers.

State health officials say they don't have a definitive date for when that plan will be released.

But experts say it's unlikely a vaccine will be available until the end of the year, and many place wide distribution at sometime in 2021.

The state plan references priority populations outlined in the CDC's COVID-19 Vaccination Interim Playbook released in September, as well as guidance contained in a federal report released earlier this month.

The state plan, CDC playbook and NASEM report all reference health inequities that need to be addressed with the COVID-19 vaccine.

That's why, the report says, any vaccine plan should take care to ensure it is "mitigating health inequities, manifesting equal regard for all, being fair and transparent, and building on the best current evidence.".

The Arizona plan provides guidance for how officials will communicate with specific population groups and react to scenarios such as low vaccine supplies, and outlines the kind of demographic research they are doing to get ready.

Arizona's plan indicates county health departments will play a large role with the COVID-19 vaccine distribution, as they did during H1N1.

The Arizona plan pledges to "equitably" distribute a vaccine when it becomes available.

The state says it is working closely with county health departments, as well as tribal and community leaders to make that happen.

"County and tribal partners will be instrumental in developing tactics for administering vaccine in hard-to-reach populations and congregate settings such as correctional facilities and homeless shelters," the plan says.

The plan also describes a partnership with Arizona State University that resulted in an analysis of people at high risk for COVID-19 complications, using hospital discharge histories, diagnostic codes and a vulnerability index that looks at factors like poverty and ethnicity that have been shown to be statistically associated with elevated COVID-19 death, diagnosis and hospitalization.

The analysis came up with 31 high-risk areas in Arizona that contain an estimated 54% of all Arizonans who would be at elevated risk of poorer COVID-19 outcomes, the plan says.

It is anticipated that it will continue to grow as additional partners are identified and as planning progresses to address specific issues with each phase of vaccine distribution," the plan says.

During H1N1, state health officials allocated 10% of the initial available vaccine doses to tribal populations although they compose 5% of the state's population.

The report notes that immunization of children will depend on whether COVID-19 vaccines have been adequately tested for safety and efficacy in these age groups

The CDC says the federal government is committed to providing free or low-cost COVID-19 vaccines and that vaccine doses purchased with U.S

In addition, people without health insurance can get COVID-19 vaccines at no cost, the CDC says

Officials with the national Association of Immunization Managers and the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials, a nonprofit organization of U.S

public health agencies, are urging Congress to provide at least $8.4 billion in emergency supplemental funding for COVID-19 vaccine distribution and administration, plus an additional $500 million for seasonal flu operations