PHOENIX — Hundreds of volunteer spots at COVID-19 vaccination sites are going unfilled since one of the incentives to volunteer at the sites was getting the vaccine at the end of a shift.
But after Arizona opened up the COVID-19 vaccine to the general population, interest in volunteering has dropped off.
Volunteer sign-ups left unfilled
HandsOn Greater Phoenix is one organization that has been helping fill volunteer spots for vaccination sites.
On the organization’s website, a notice posted Monday said “volunteer interest in serving at vaccine sites has taken a nosedive” since the vaccine was made available to those 16 and older in Arizona.
Hundreds of spots at state vaccination sites remain empty for the coming weeks.
On Monday, University of Arizona President Dr. Robert C. Robbins put the call out for more hands at their state vaccination point of distribution on-campus.
“We desperately need volunteers,” Robbins said. “You will remember it when you look back 5, 10, 15 years from now, ‘I was part of helping eradicate this deadly virus.’”
State has back-up plan to keep sites running
At Maricopa County’s Grand Canyon University POD site, 130 volunteers a day help keep the site running.
With how involved volunteers are, Dr. Cara Christ, director of the Arizona Department of Health Services said the state does have a back-up plan if not enough volunteer spots are filled.
“We do have contracts in place that if we don’t have the volunteers they just activate a staffing contract and they bring on paid staff to do that,” Christ told reporters in a briefing Friday.
Husband and wife volunteer duo clock weeks of service
Julie and Dave Witko volunteer at the GCU vaccination site.
They’ve been giving their time two days a week for the past seven weeks.
“There’s plenty to be done,” Julie said.
“She does the vaccination,” Dave said. “I usually help with traffic control, greeting people and getting them signed in,” Dave said.
The husband and wife team are both now retired. Before retirement, Julie worked for about 40 years as a registered nurse.
“I personally give maybe 100 or more shots a day in my shift,” Julie said. “That’s a drop in the bucket in the whole scheme of things but look what I can get done in a few hours time.”
The pair said they’ll keep giving of their time to help get Arizona past the pandemic.
“We’ll do as much as we can for as long as they need us,” Dave said.