/ Modified apr 20, 2021 7:04 p.m.

No FEMA vaccination pod for Pima County

County plans six smaller mobile sites instead.

360 vaccine syringes A bundle of syringes at a COVID-19 vaccination site at Tucson Medical Center. January 2021.
AZPM Staff

Pima County has pivoted to "Plan B" after state and federal officials reached an impasse over a proposal for a large-scale federal vaccination site targeted at under-served populations.

What started as a plan for a federally-supported site potentially vaccinating 6,000 people a day has morphed into 6 mobile vaccination clinics serving one-quarter as many people.

County Administrator Chuck Huckelberry told the Board of Supervisors Tuesday that state and federal representatives could not agree on terms for the original arrangement. "What we have done is pivoted to a request of FEMA that is for 6 mobile pods, each providing approximately 250 to 350 shots per day," Huckelberry said.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency and Pima County both wanted the large scale site, but state health officials insisted on terms FEMA and the county couldn't accept. Among other things, the state wanted to bar Pima County from using any state resources, including the state's vaccination reservation system, and agree to accept all liability if anything went wrong.

By posting comments, you agree to our
AZPM encourages comments, but comments that contain profanity, unrelated information, threats, libel, defamatory statements, obscenities, pornography or that violate the law are not allowed. Comments that promote commercial products or services are not allowed. Comments in violation of this policy will be removed. Continued posting of comments that violate this policy will result in the commenter being banned from the site.

By submitting your comments, you hereby give AZPM the right to post your comments and potentially use them in any other form of media operated by this institution.
AZPM is a service of the University of Arizona and our broadcast stations are licensed to the Arizona Board of Regents who hold the trademarks for Arizona Public Media and AZPM. We respectfully acknowledge the University of Arizona is on the land and territories of Indigenous peoples.
The University of Arizona