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Vaccination site at UArizona focusing on educators

Posted at 5:26 AM, Jan 20, 2021
and last updated 2021-03-08 12:38:35-05

TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN9) — There is a new place to get vaccinated at Pima County, and it is at the University of Arizona. The focus at that location will be educators in the 1B Phase.

“It wasn’t bad at all it was just a quick little pinch and it was all over,” said Teacher Jennifer Oquendo.

She got the vaccine to protect herself, her students, and all the families connected to her class.

“Just to be safe and take care of my family, and my adopted families at the school, and my kiddos at school that I consider my own as well, just to keep everyone safe,” she said.

All of Pima County’s vaccination sites are taking people in the early phase of the 1B group. The 1B group includes people 75 years and older and protective service workers, but the University of Arizona location will be prioritizing those in the education field.

“Childcare providers, all K-12 educators and staff and Pima Community College educators and staff for all of Pima,” said President Dr. Robert Robbins. “We are the education POD.” POD stands for point of distribution.

Robbins says they will be ramping up to 500 shots a day by Friday and they hope to eventually give out over 1,000 a day. At that pace, the estimated 60,000 people in the education field in Pima County would be vaccinated by the end of March.

“I would love to see us complete this task by April 1st that would be phenomenal,” said Robbins. “if we can get to 1,000 a day, we can get 60,000 people vaccinated over the next two months.

Oquendo says she feels like she is one step closer tox getting her life and her classroom back to normal.

“It just means we get to kind of go back to our normal selves and see more of our kiddos more often and be able to be close to them again which will be so nice.”

You must register through Pima County’s websiteor over their phone line before getting your vaccination.

To register online:

Visit https://webcms.pima.gov

When you register, you will fill out a survey that includes your contact information and you will see a messaging saying you will be contacted soon.

To register over the phone:

Call 520-222-0119 Monday-Friday, 8 a.m.-5 p.m.