News 11’s Adonis Albright walks us through the process of rolling up our sleeves
YUMA, Ariz. (KYMA, KECY) – It takes less than 30 minutes to obtain a COVID-19 vaccine from the new government-sponsored POD location at the Yuma Civic Center. It’s quick, easy, and best of all, painless.
The first step is to log into the Arizona Department of Health website or to make an appointment by calling 1-844-542-820. Once you’ve booked an appointment, all you need to do is bring photo ID with you when you check in.
You don’t have to show up early, all you have to do is show up on time. After check-in, you will be directed to one of 10 vaccination lanes. When it is your turn the nurse will call you to get your shot in a private booth and tell you what you need to know about getting your COVID-19 vaccine.
After you’ve rolled up your sleeve, wait 15 minutes in a socially distant observation area to make sure you don’t experience any side effects. Before you leave, a local representative will be in touch to make your appointment for a second dose.
If you cannot book an appointment online or by phone, the clinic will use up to 50 walk-ins per day.
Yuma Regional Medical Center (YRMC) receives thousands of doses of the Pfizer vaccine, which means thousands of appointments are available.
“We have a lot of availability for appointments. We received over 7,000 Pfizer vaccines last week, and this week we’re receiving another 7,000. So there are currently more than 5,000 appointments available, “said Kristina McNair, director of continuous improvement and project development at YRMC.
The government-sponsored POD site offers the Pfizer vaccine for first-dose use only. When you have received your first dose of Moderna vaccine, you will need to contact the hospital directly to schedule your second dose.
With the Brazilian variant of COVID-19 discovered in Yuma County in March, there is concern that the virus could mutate and be harder to vaccinate if not enough people are vaccinated. This is what Dr. Bharat Magu, the Chief Medical Officer at YRMC.
“For variants to get to this point, they have to be replicated many times over, and we want to stop doing that. How do we prevent variants from getting to this point? It is meant to be vaccinated so that variants don’t have the source body to replicate and mutate and get to that point. That’s why previous herd immunity is the only definitive way to ensure we don’t get an entirely new virus that affects our community. “
Related: YRMC has more COVID vaccine appointments available
Local Coronavirus / Top Stories / Vaccine / Yuma County / Yuma County Coronavirus
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