People Over 75 Can Now Be Vaccinated At Tucson Convention Center

TUCSON, AZ — A coronavirus vaccination site is expanding its reach, officials announced Thursday.

After confusion swirled around who was eligible to receive the coronavirus vaccine at the Tucson Convention Center site, the Pima County Health Department said in a news release that it has expanded the site's eligibility to include Tucsonans over the age of 75. Previously, the site was reserved for educators and law enforcement.

People over 75 were only able to register for vaccination appointments at the two Banner hospital sites and Tucson Medical Center in the event of an adverse reaction to the shot. Negative reactions are rare, so the health department has decided to lift the restriction.

"We’re hitting a saturation point for teachers and law enforcement and it has become harder to round up 1B priority qualifying people to send to the TCC to fill the open appointment slots," the county health department said in a statement.

The county has, to date, been contacting law enforcement agencies, courts and schools — all eligible in prioritized Phase 1b of the county's vaccination plan — to send their staff to the convention center for vaccines. Despite being able to accommodate 1,500 appointments per day, many have not been choosing TCC when they register, according to the county.

Any doses left over at the end of a day were put in the arms of Arizonans, the county said, including some who hung around the site hoping to get the vaccine.

The health department noted that "social media" has led some to believe that anyone can walk up to the convention center and get vaccinated, including anyone over the age of 65, who are not yet eligible in Pima County. Officials said those in line were not turned away regardless of age if doses were available.

Arizona has said residents over the age of 65 are eligible to receive the vaccine at its two state-run sites in Phoenix. Most counties have not yet been able to approve the change in eligibility due to limited dose availability.

"The city, rather than turn people away, chose to vaccinate people over 65 who were in line as long as it had available vaccine," the statement said. "That also has been spread on social media as an official change in County vaccination policy. This is incorrect. You currently must be an educator, in protective services or older than 75 to get vaccinated at the TCC."

The county said it hopes that expanding eligibility at the convention center will help Tucson move into the next stage of its vaccination plan.

Pima County Health Director Dr. Theresa Cullen is expected to make an announcement regarding priority groups on Friday at 12:30 p.m. The news conference will be broadcast live on the Pima County Health Department Facebook page.