Yuma County to begin next phase of COVID-19 vaccinations next week

News 11's Adonis Albright explains how, and if, you can sign up for the next round of coronavirus shots

Yuma, ARIZ. (KYMA, KECY) - Yuma County announced on Friday it is ready to move into phase 1B of the vaccination process. This next category includes people over the age of 75, law enforcement personnel, educators as well as other essential workers.

With so many people qualifying for the next phase, the county said it's important to remember that there are a limited number of vaccines, and not everyone who qualifies will necessarily be able to get inoculated right away.

Sign ups for the next phase began on Friday, and were filled up within the first couple of hours. It's a problem the county is actively working to address.

“I do know that it’s very hard to get through the line, the phone number was provided so that the 75 & older group could sign up, we assist them with signing up. There’s another category of 1B people that were included that were able to get registered online. Those filled up quite quickly, and that’s why people can’t get on to the site and go further into the future. Once we receive more vaccine, we will open up more opportunities", said Kevin Tunell, the communications director for Yuma County.

For more information on how you can sign up once more vaccines are available and to see if you qualify for the next phase, click here.

The Arizona Department of Health Services (AZDHS) also provided an update on vaccine distribution for the state's 15 counties. Yuma County will be receiving 800 doses some time next week, some of which also includes the second dose of the vaccine.

The news came shortly after Governor Doug Ducey announced that the CDC is providing more than $65 million to expedite the vaccination process and make it more accessible.

The CDC Funding will be used to get more Arizonans vaccinated quickly and safely. It will be used to:

• Connect with those in communities who may face difficulties reaching a vaccine site
• Engage with those with low confidence in vaccines
• Ensure high-quality, safe, and equitable vaccine distribution
• Develop community engagement strategies to promote vaccine efforts
• Support distribution of vaccines to tribal nations.

“The Governor’s executive order actually makes this more efficient by empowering AZDHS to manage allocations to some of those statewide partners such as pharmacy chains and other groups that may straddle multiple counties", said Dr. Cara Christ, the director of AZDHS.

So far, more than 126,000 vaccinations have been administered statewide. Dr. Cara Christ said although not everyone in phase 1A has been fully vaccinated, that doesn't mean they're excluded from still getting the shot. Rather, the move is part of the state's continued efforts to expedite and expand upon the vaccination process.