First shots of Johnson & Johnson vaccine administered in Yuma County
Mayor Doug Nicholls tours vaccine site at Yuma Civic Center - News 11's Adonis Albright reports
YUMA, Ariz. (KYMA, KECY) - Progress is being made in the fight against COVID-19 with the first ever shots of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine being administered in Yuma County.
Yuma Mayor Douglas Nicholls toured the vaccine site at the Yuma Civic Center on Tuesday, where staff from Yuma Regional Medical Center (YRMC) received 600 doses of the vaccine.
"It is a single vaccine, and so unlike the others where you have to take it originally and then with Pfizer you take it again at day 21, or Moderna day 28, this one you can do just one time", said Kristina McNair, the Director of Project Management and Continuence Improvement at YRMC.
The Mayor got a first-hand look at the latest vaccine approved by the FDA. He said this is a step in the right direction.
"It's very effective right out of the gate, and it'll just help the process go quicker because we won't have people recycle back through six weeks later", said Nicholls.
The Yuma County Public Health District said Yuma County is inching closer to opening up the next phase of vaccinations. Dr. Cara Christ, the director of the Arizona Department of Health Services, also said the state is expected to move into the next phase by the end of March or April.
