Name: Arizona has reapplied for more COVID-19 vaccine doses, despite being told 'no' before
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Arizona has reapplied for more COVID-19 vaccine doses, despite being told 'no' before

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Arizona RepublicView CommentsArizona officials have refiled their federal request for additional COVID-19 vaccine doses after&nbsp;their initial application was denied last month.The state wants an immediate 300,000 extra doses and an additional 300,000 doses more than Arizona's normal allotment&nbsp;each week moving forward.&nbsp;The bureaucratic journey through federal government departments to get more doses has so far been unsuccessful.A request was submitted in mid-January to the Federal&nbsp;Emergency Management Agency.&nbsp;It was denied in a matter of two days because FEMA said they were the wrong agency to ask, even though FEMA officials&nbsp;had prompted&nbsp;the state to apply, said Dr. Cara Christ, director of the Arizona Department of Health Services.FEMA twice denied Arizona's vaccine requests "because&nbsp;FEMA does not oversee vaccine supply," said spokesperson&nbsp;Brandi Richard Thompson. "FEMA can and does support Arizona with funding, personnel and supplies. FEMA is not however, the right agency for vaccine."The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also denied the request in its ordering system, Christ said.&nbsp;The request was just resubmitted to FEMA at the agency's direction, CJ Karamargin, a spokesman for Gov. Doug Ducey, confirmed on Monday. Christ and Karamargin said FEMA told them to resubmit the request.Thompson of FEMA told The Arizona Republic that while FEMA cannot approve the vaccine supply requests, the repeated submissions&nbsp;can be&nbsp;useful from an "awareness perspective" for the federal government to have a sense of the state's needs.The dosing system is managed by the U.S. Department of&nbsp;Health and Human Services and the CDC, she said, but if Arizona submitted such a large request through that system, it could take away doses from smaller orders waiting to be filled.To avoid that, Arizona is using&nbsp;FEMA's&nbsp;resource request process as a sort of "workaround" and so FEMA can share the information&nbsp;with partners, she said, although FEMA itself will not fulfill the request.Denial is not as bad as it may sound, Thompson said, because the request still got "exposure" and can lead to a conversation about the needs and next steps.Every member of Arizona's congressional delegation has submitted or signed a letter to the White House or federal agencies&nbsp;in support of more vaccine supply.&nbsp;"We are so grateful for all of the advocacy that has been done on our behalf," Christ said Monday. "We do have a solid model and we could quickly ramp up vaccination in Arizona if we had more vaccine."President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris went on a virtual tour of the state-run vaccination&nbsp;site at State Farm Stadium on Monday. Arizona's&nbsp;request for more doses did not come up.The added doses would go a long way towards vaccinating more Arizonans faster.&nbsp; Nearly 920,200 doses had been administered at vaccine sites across Arizona as of Monday,&nbsp;and roughly 2.4% of the population had been fully vaccinated with two doses.&nbsp;The percentage of Arizonans who are fully vaccinated is likely higher than 2.4% because the state's numbers do not include vaccines administered through federal entities, including Indian Health Services and the Veterans Administration.The vaccine rollout in Arizona has been slower than expected and many seniors&nbsp;have in scheduling appointments. The state runs two large-scale vaccination&nbsp;sites in Maricopa County, and counties and providers are operating their own vaccine clinics, although many from the state.Arizona's U.S. senators and U.S. representatives&nbsp;from both sides of the aisle&nbsp;have written to federal officials outlining the need for more doses and asking them to approve the state's request.&nbsp;Sens. Kyrsten&nbsp;Sinema&nbsp;and Mark&nbsp;Kelly, both Arizona Democrats,&nbsp;&nbsp;Jeff Zients on Friday, saying the state is experiencing one of the worst outbreaks in the country and needs more vaccine to immunize Arizona's "disproportionately large number of at-risk populations" such as seniors, tribal communities and critical workers."Arizona state and county public health officials have all identified the number of doses our state receives as a huge barrier to more Arizonans receiving the COVID-19 vaccine and saving lives," the&nbsp;letter reads. Sinema and Kelly wrote that the state is not getting enough doses to "equitably meet the needs of all vaccination sites" across counties.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Sinema previously had&nbsp; on&nbsp;Jan. 26 to ask for more vaccinators and for the 300,000 additional dose request, saying "the situation in Arizona is simply unacceptable."&nbsp;Reps. Debbie Lesko, Paul Gosar, Andy Biggs and David Schweikert, all Arizona Republicans,&nbsp;, highlighting how the vaccination of at-risk populations and the cumbersome appointment reservation process would be improved with the immediate allocation of more doses to Arizona.&nbsp;"Given the impact of the virus on our state, and the readiness of Arizona to efficiently allocate any additional doses we receive, we ask that Arizona's request for an immediate 300,000 vaccine doses and a 300,000 dose increase in our weekly allocations be granted," the four GOP representatives wrote.Democratic Reps.&nbsp;Raúl Grijalva, Ruben Gallego, Ann&nbsp;Kirkpatrick and Tom O’Halleran on Friday to&nbsp;Biden and Zients urging the immediate allocation of more doses.&nbsp;"While we respect a pro rata apportionment of vaccines by population, we ask that you consider whether it is appropriate to supply hotspots with an immediate influx of additional vaccines to save the most lives," the letter reads.The representatives also asked for&nbsp;federal oversight and additional resources in light of "shortcomings of the state response"&nbsp;to ensure Arizona is equitably distributing the vaccine.&nbsp;And&nbsp;Rep. Greg Stanton, D-Ariz., wrote that "few places in the world have fared worse than Arizona during this crisis," in a Thursday letter to Zients."Because some of the most common-sense policies to prevent rapid spread of the virus have been rejected in Arizona, the best hope my constituents have is the rapid deployment of vaccines to reach herd immunity," Stanton wrote.&nbsp;Stanton said vaccine allocation is based on Census data but that Arizona's winter&nbsp;population expands with seasonal agricultural workers and out-of-state residents, meaning the state needs a larger allocation.&nbsp;"My state is hurting," he wrote, pointing to hours-long waits online and by phone to book limited vaccine appointments.More doses will quicken the process and ensure "equitable distribution" of vaccines to a range of sites in rural and underserved communities, he wrote.&nbsp;Reach the reporter at or at 602-444-4282. Follow her on Twitter .Support local journalism. View Comments

Arizona RepublicView CommentsArizona officials have refiled their federal request for additional COVID-19 vaccine doses after&nbsp;their initial application was denied last month.The state wants an immediate 300,000 extra doses and an additional 300,000 doses more than Arizona's normal allotment&nbsp;each week moving forward.&nbsp;The bureaucratic journey through federal government departments to get more doses has so far been unsuccessful.A request was submitted in mid-January to the Federal&nbsp;Emergency Management Agency.&nbsp;It was denied in a matter of two days because FEMA said they...

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Arizona has reapplied for more COVID-19 vaccine doses, despite being told 'no' before

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