Arizonans who are 55 or older will be able to register for COVID-19 vaccination appointments at the University of Arizona vaccination site beginning Saturday at 8 a.m. Appointments will be available as soon as Monday.

Those who are eligible and have not yet been vaccinated can go to podvaccine.azdhs.gov to make an appointment. Those requiring assistance, including those who would like to speak with bilingual schedulers, can call 602-542-1000.

The eligibility expansion aligns the site with Gov. Doug Ducey's announcement earlier this month that the state would move to a hybrid vaccine distribution model that prioritizes vaccinations based on age and occupation.

Vaccination will continue for groups previously listed under Phase 1A and Prioritized Phase 1B:

• Health care workers and health care support occupations
• Emergency medical services workers
• Long-term care facility staff and residents
• Education and child care workers
• Protective services occupations

Since opening in late January, the University of Arizona site has administered nearly 55,000 vaccine doses. The site is now in the process of ramping up its capacity to 2,500 shots per day by next week, said Chris Kopach, the university's assistant vice president of facilities management and the incident commander at the vaccination site.

Pima County announced Thursday that it also would expand eligibility to people age 55 and older as well as certain frontline essential workers. Frontline essential workers younger than 55 must register for vaccination at a county-run site. For more information about county site eligibility and to register, please visit the Pima County website.

Medical Volunteers Needed

Medical volunteers are urgently needed to help staff the university's high-capacity state vaccination site in six-hour shifts from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. every day of the week. Those who are interested are asked to register with the Arizona Disaster Healthcare Volunteers and then complete the UArizona vaccination POD volunteer form.