Biden, Harris virtually tour coronavirus vaccination site at Arizona stadium

President Biden and Vice President Harris on Monday virtually toured a coronavirus vaccination site at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Ariz., that is receiving help from the federal government.

Cara Christ, director of Arizona’s Department Health Services, led the virtual tour, telling officials that roughly 8,000 to 9,000 Arizonans are vaccinated daily at the testing site, which is open 24 hours, seven days a week.

More than 160,000 doses of the vaccine have been administered since the site opened. The stadium is normally home to the Arizona Cardinals NFL team, but has been repurposed as a vaccination site during the pandemic. 

Biden said during the tour that officials expect to exceed their goal of vaccinating 100 million Americans in the first 100 days of his administration, with the help of testing sites like the one in Glendale.

Biden and Harris received a video walk through of the outdoor testing site, where individuals who sign up for vaccines drive through to receive their doses. They asked some questions of the individuals running the operation and said that the site would be a model for future vaccination sites across the country that the Biden White House is hoping to support.

More than 300 federal personnel from the Department of Health and Human Services and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) have been deployed to Arizona to support vaccination efforts, according to the White House.  

“Our hope is that we’re to be able to not only going to keep the commitment of getting 100 million shots into people’s arms by the first 100 days, I think we’ll exceed that considerably, but also we’ve now been able to go out and talk with, personally, the vaccine manufacturers,” Biden said at one point during the tour. “They’ve upped significantly the amount of vaccine they will produce and when it will be produced.”

Biden said that things are “beginning to click” though he acknowledged the potential setbacks in the new variants of the coronavirus from the United Kingdom and South Africa. Biden also said equity is a focus of the federal response, as officials look to ensure that minority and disadvantaged communities gain equal access to the vaccine.

Biden and Harris also spoke with acting regional administrator for FEMA Tammy Littrell, head of the Arizona National Guard Maj. Gen. Michael McGuire and a nurse supervising the testing site. Biden repeatedly thanked the individuals for their work.

“Big or small, we’re going to do whatever it takes to reach and surpass our goal of over 100 million in 100 days,” Biden said. “I know we can do it. We’ve never failed as a country when we’ve done things together.”

Biden has previously expressed hope that the country could see 150 million Americans vaccinated in the first 100 days of his administration. He said Monday that officials hope to have 300 million vaccinated before the end of summer.

In addition to mobilizing FEMA and the National Guard to help increase vaccinations, the administration is also directly shipping coronavirus vaccines to retail pharmacies.