Media Availability at State of Arizona – Tucson POD with ADHS Director Dr. Cara Christ

Feb. 17, 2021

Media Availability at State of Arizona – Tucson POD with ADHS Director Dr. Cara Christ

What: Media availability on State of Arizona – Tucson Drive-Through and Sit-Down POD, the newest state vaccination site. The following speakers will discuss COVID-19 vaccination efforts underway at the University of Arizona POD (point of distribution) and answer questions from media:
- Arizona Department of Health Services Director Dr. Cara Christ
- University of Arizona President Dr. Robert C. Robbins
- Director of the Arizona Department of Emergency and Military Affairs Maj. Gen. Michael T. McGuire
When: Thursday, Feb. 18, 3:15 p.m. (MST)
Where: Media must check in at the Media Tent in front of the Ina E. Gittings Building, 1737 E. University Blvd., and will be escorted into the UArizona POD. Parking is available on the lawn directly south of the Robson Tennis Center, 900 N. Martin Ave.
RSVP: Please RSVP to media_requests@list.arizona.edu if you plan to attend this in-person event.
Online public broadcast: https://www.arizona.edu/live
Vaccination site photos and b-roll: https://arizona.box.com/v/COVID19Vaccines

TUCSON, Ariz. – Arizona Department of Health Services Director Dr. Cara Christ, University of Arizona President Dr. Robert C. Robbins and Director of the Arizona Department of Emergency and Military Affairs Maj. Gen. Michael T. McGuire will take questions from media at the COVID-19 vaccination site on the University of Arizona Mall.

The University of Arizona has served as a vaccine point of distribution in partnership with Pima County and other community partners since mid-January. On Feb. 18, the UArizona site will transition to being a state-run site that may eventually be able to operate 24/7 and serve up to 6,000 people per day. This is Arizona's third high-capacity state vaccination site and the first such site in Southern Arizona.

Christ, an alumna of the University of Arizona College of Medicine, said last week that vaccine demand remains high across the state, and the UArizona site will help meet demand in Southern Arizona.

"We'll have the ability to vaccinate more people each day at this site once we have more vaccine doses, and we are working with our federal partners to secure more supplies and rapidly expand vaccinations," she said. "We are looking forward to working with the University of Arizona and Pima County to get this site running and protect more Arizonans."

The university site includes a drive-through clinic as well as a sit-down clinic for those who don't have access to a vehicle. Appointments are required for both locations; walk-ins are not accepted.

Those who are eligible for vaccination in the state's Priority Phase 1B can schedule appointments as they become available through the Arizona Department of Health Services website.

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Media contact:
University Communications
520-626-9422
media_requests@list.arizona.edu

The University of Arizona, a land-grant university with two independently accredited medical schools, is one of the nation's top 40 public universities, according to U.S. News & World Report. Established in 1885, the university is widely recognized as a student-centric university and has been designated as a Hispanic Serving Institution by the U.S. Department of Education. The university ranked in the top 20 in 2019 in research expenditures among all public universities, according to the National Science Foundation, and is a leading Research 1 institution with $734 million in annual research expenditures. The university advances the frontiers of interdisciplinary scholarship and entrepreneurial partnerships as a member of the Association of American Universities, the 65 leading public and private research universities in the U.S. It benefits the state with an estimated economic impact of $4.1 billion annually. For the latest on the University of Arizona response to the novel coronavirus, visit the university's COVID-19 webpage.