Rep. Greg Stanton makes special request to Biden administration

Caleb Fernandez & April Hettinger, KYMA

February 7, 2021

KYMA: Rep. Greg Stanton makes special request to Biden administration

YUMA, Ariz. (KYMA, KECY) - A letter was sent to White House COVID-19 Coordinator as Arizona leads most of the nation in cases, deaths and ICU capacity per capita.

Rep. Greg Stanton has sent a letter to the White House requesting the Administration approve an immediate allocation of 300,000 vaccine doses, as well as 300,000 additional doses per week to the State of Arizona.

"My state is hurting," Rep. Stanton declared. "An emergency infusion of 300,000 vaccines is essential to eliminate the current shortfalls we have to reach ADHS's [Arizona Department of Health Services] phased rollout timeline for the current vaccine phases..."

The State of Arizona had an error in the original submission through VTrckS, the web-based system in charge of U.S. supply chain management for vaccines as part of Operation Warp Speed. Another request has since been updated and resubmitted.

Rep. Stanton also highlighted, "...the addition of 300,000 vaccines per week will help allow for an equitable distribution of vaccines to reach community health centers and pharmacies that are eager to begin assisting in vaccinating those in rural and underserved communities."

To date, Arizona has lost nearly 14,000 lives to COVID-19, with about half of those deaths occurring in December and January alone.