Arizona's Medicaid agency approves payment for rides to vaccine appointments

Weather-delayed Moderna vaccine shipments arrive

A pandemic obstacle for many Arizona seniors was removed this week when state officials announced AHCCCS will reimburse them for transportation to and from their COVID-19 vaccination appointments.

Beginning Monday, Feb. 22, Arizona's Medicaid agency will reimburse non-emergency medical transportation providers for driving eligible members to their vaccination appointments and back home.

This funding approval includes reimbursement for time spent waiting during the drive-through vaccination process, officials said Monday.

“With the increasing availability of the COVID-19 vaccines, AHCCCS is working to ensure that Medicaid-eligible individuals have equal access to this critical health service, and that we are eliminating any potential barriers to care,” said Jami Snyder, director of AHCCCS, “whether that may be a transportation, scheduling, or mobility issue.”

Eligible members can schedule non-emergency transportation to attend scheduled vaccine appointments through their health plan.

AHCCCS also announced a collaboration with the Arizona Department of Health Services (ADHS) to train and equip additional staff as vaccine navigators to assist Medicaid members with scheduling vaccine appointments. In addition to assisting with appointment scheduling, vaccine navigators will also be able to help in coordinating transportation for Medicaid members to and from vaccination appointments.

AHCCCS serves approximately 30 percent of Arizonans.

For more vaccine and coronavirus information, go to the online ADHS Vaccine Finder at azhealth.gov/findvaccine or call 1-844-542-8201 to get more assistance.

VACCINE ADMINISTRATION

The United States is administering approximately 1.46 million vaccine doses every single day, given supply of vaccine.

More than 1.5 million Arizonans have been vaccinated as of Monday, with over 1 million first doses, and 400,000 second doses administered. Since the start of the vaccine effort, 51,133 doses of the Moderna vaccine have been administered in Yavapai County, with close to 45,000 first doses and 6,600 second doses.

PHARMACY PROGRAM

To increase access to vaccinations across the United States, the CDC launched the Federal Retail Pharmacy Program for COVID-19 Vaccination, a collaboration between the federal government, states and territories, and 21 national pharmacy partners and independent pharmacy networks. You can find a list of the retail pharmacies in each state that will be receiving vaccine through this program online at www.cdc.gov/vaccines/covid-19/retail-pharmacy-program/participating-pharmacies.html. The list is specific to the Federal Retail Pharmacy Program; some states have engaged additional pharmacies directly to assist with vaccination efforts.

MODERNA SHIPMENTS ARRIVE

Last week’s allocation of Yavapai County's 9,400 doses of COVID-19 vaccine arrived Monday, and the new week’s allocation is expected by Feb. 24, according to a news release from Yavapai County Community Health Services (YCCHS).

Spectrum Healthcare’s Vaccine Stations and YRMC’s PODs are open again by appointment only. Appointments canceled last week for all PODs have been rebooked as listed on the YCCHS Vaccine Information page at www.yavapai.us/chs/Home/COVID-19/Vaccine. "Please check this page often as appointments, as they open will be listed there," YCCHS said in the release. "People with questions regarding their appointments with Spectrum can call 928-414-8884."

COUNTY NUMBERS

Yavapai County reported 113 new COVID-19 cases and 20 additional confirmed deaths overnight.

“These additional deaths were determined by death certificate data on cases already closed prior to death, and in continuing to analyze the data, our case count could be reduced," Yavapai County Epidemiologist Stephen Everett explained. "Half of the cases [Tuesday] are determined to be old cases with 69 of them and one death as the new cases overnight.”

Since the start of the pandemic, the county has tested 100,939 residents with 17,461 positive cases, 7,606 recovered and 449 deaths.

YRMC is caring for 27 COVID-19 patients, 20 on the West campus, and seven on the East campus. Verde Valley Medical Center in Cottonwood reports two COVID patients and the Prescott VA reports no COVID patients.

LOCAL COVID-19 INFORMATION

• For Yavapai County COVID-19 vaccine information: https://www.yavapai.us/chs/Home/COVID-19/Vaccine.

• Yavapai Emergency Phone Bank for COVID-19 Info: 928-442-5103 – Monday through Thursday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

• For a COVID-19 test at Community Health Center of Yavapai, call 928-583-1000. For a flu shot, call 928-771-3122.

• COVID-19 information en español: https://www.azdhs.gov/preparedness/epidemiology-disease-control/infectious-disease-epidemiology/es/covid-19/index.php#novel-coronavirus-home.