Mohave County says it expects to work with Embry Health clinics again

Last week the Mohave County Health Department ruled that deliveries will be halted to one distributor of the coronavirus vaccine. But on Friday, county officials indicated they would welcome Embry Health back — and their help will be sorely needed over the next several months.

“The intent is for the county to continue to work with Embry Health,” said Mohave County Public Information Officer Roger Galloway. “It’s a technical problem that they’ve been having with the state.”

All immunizations in Arizona, by any provider, must be submitted through the Arizona State Immunization Information System manually or electronically. The system is designed to record all vaccinations provided to children within the state, and to allow state health officials to know who has already received their first or second required doses of the vaccine.

According to Galloway, such reporting has posed a technical issue for Embry representatives to resolve.

Embry Health has offered coronavirus testing at Mohave Community College campuses throughout the county since August, and joined the county’s vaccination efforts on Jan. 21. The company will not receive future vaccine shipments until that data is reported to state officials, but other providers were prevented from receiving their own shipments of the vaccine this week for another reason entirely.

According to Mohave County Health Director Denise Burley, supplies of the Moderna vaccine were not shipped to Mohave County this week due to inclement weather throughout the U.S.

Mohave County maintained the second-lowest number of reported vaccinations in Arizona as of Friday, Feb. 19, with only Apache County distributing fewer doses. Mohave County has received about 3,000 doses of the vaccine per week from the Arizona Department of Health Services, and until those shipments increase, Burley says inoculating Mohave County residents against the ongoing coronavirus pandemic will continue to pose a challenge.

As of Friday, Lake Havasu City remained the largest recipient of the vaccine with 10,200 doses distributed. Bullhead City followed behind with 9,700 vaccines distributed.

It was unknown what options there may be for Embry Health patients who made appointments with the company for vaccinations. Officials of the Mohave County Coronavirus Hotline were unable to comment on those options, if any, as of Friday.