PHOENIX — Governor Doug Ducey announced Monday that Arizona will be opening COVID-19 vaccine eligibility to all residents 16 and older starting Wednesday, March 24.
Registration for state-run vaccination sites in Maricopa, Pima, and Yuma counties will be open at 8 a.m. Wednesday. Registration can be done online here.
“Our goal has been and remains to get vaccine into the community as quickly, widely and equitably as possible,” said Governor Ducey. “Given a thorough review of vaccination data, anticipated vaccine supply, and current demand among prioritized groups, now is the time to take this critical next step.”
RELATED: What you need to know to sign up for your COVID-19 vaccine in Arizona
Vaccination sites administering the Pfizer vaccine, including those run by the state, will be able to vaccinate Arizonans age 16 and older.
Officials say at both Maricopa County and state-run sites, 16 and 17-year-olds will need parental consent to receive the vaccine.
Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines, which are provided to counties, are approved for those 18 and older and are currently not being provided at state-run vaccination sites.
Following the ADHS announcement, Maricopa County health officials said they are "finalizing a plan" and will "adopt the same prioritization as the state of Arizona." No details were shared on when appointments will be made available for county-run vaccination sites.
On 3/24, Maricopa County will adopt the same prioritization as the state of Arizona and open appt. eligibility to all residents 18+ for Moderna or Janssen vaccines, and 16+ for those receiving Pfizer, per vaccine FDA emergency use authorization. https://t.co/AL0yAV160g https://t.co/w1G7860Lg0
— Public Health (@Maricopahealth) March 22, 2021
As of Monday, March 22, nearly three million doses have been administered in Arizona. More than one million Arizonans have been fully vaccinated.
In a press conference Monday, Dr. Cara Christ says that the state should be able to reach herd immunity by this summer or fall.
Watch the full press conference below:
The state says there are almost 3,000 cancellations a day, as people found earlier appointments.
ADHS said as of Tuesday morning, 34,200 appointments for this week are still available to those 55 and older.
At 8 a.m. Wednesday, appointments left remaining for this week will be available to everyone.
ADHS expects to make around 80,000 appointments available at 11 a.m. Friday for state sites including the new vaccination site in Yuma.
For those unable to make appointments Wednesday or Friday, more will be opening each Friday after that.
Health officials said people can check for appointments made available due to cancellations on the ADHS website by clicking here.
Dr. Cara Christ says they are continuing to make enhancement to the website. For one, appointments will be saved as you are signing up to prevent someone from snatching it from right under you.
With the new age requirements, Christ says this will allow them to be able to vaccine entire families now. Before, those who fit the age category would be allowed to be vaccinated, but other members who didn't qualify, weren't able to get the vaccine.
Christ also says that the state will be working directly with partners at DES and some advocacy groups, to schedule vaccination events for people with disabilities.
On April 4, the State Farm Stadium vaccination site will be moving indoors and Christ says the location might also be changing.
"What we're looking to do is to not keep State Farm Stadium activated through the summer looking for a venue to potentially move it indoors. I think the Cardinals need their space back. I asked them for six to eight weeks, that was back in January and now we're here through potentially May. We're looking for that indoor site. It's gonna get awfully warm here and our iPads aren't going to work out in heat quite as well so we anticipate having that at least through may maybe into June," said Christ.
