HonorHealth closes COVID-19 vaccination site

HonorHealth Medical Group on Tuesday marked the closure of its drive-thru COVID-19 vaccination POD, or point of distribution, in the northeast Valley after administering around 75,000 shots since its opening in mid-December.

The vaccination site, near Interstate 17 and Union Hills Drive, will be closing as part of HonorHealth’s transition into providing vaccines at various medical group locations around the Valley.

Dr. Stephanie Jackson, HonorHealth’s senior vice president, thanked the community partners and volunteers who made the POD a success. She specifically thanked the city of Scottsdale and the HonorHealth Foundation for their donation of the ultra low-temperature freezers that were necessary to safely store the Pfizer vaccines.

She also commended staff who “worked tirelessly as guardians of the vaccine, and stewards, to make sure we did not waste a single usable dose.”

Jackson also reported that there were no pedestrian-vehicle crashes during the two and a half months that the POD was open, which she identified as one of the risks in operating a drive-thru vaccination clinic.

She said HonorHealth has “many, many takeaways” from the operation, but that the largest one is the satisfaction in having delivered tens of thousands of vaccines to those most vulnerable to COVID-19.

“Seeing the joy on health care workers’ faces, the relief they had from not being worried any longer about acquiring the vaccine, the joy of serving school teachers from the Paradise Valley and Scottsdale school districts, the joy on the faces of those over 75 who have been confined to their homes and are finally free,” she said.

Dr. Tiffany Pankow, HonorHealth’s associate chief medical officer, called working on the drive-thru clinic “one of the privileges” of her career. She said the effort involved “so many dedicated and compassionate people” and said it was “especially inspiring” to see volunteers working throughout the days, evenings and weekends to help administer the potentially life-saving shot.

Pankow called the clinic a “wonderful success” and added that as a family physician, prevention and vaccination are “near and dear to my heart.”

She said the Moderna vaccine would be used in the medical group clinics, which will mean avoiding the logistical challenge of keeping them in an ultra-low temperature freezer like they did with the Pfizer vaccines during the clinic.

The goal is to administer as many as 3,000 vaccines per week, with both Pankow and Jackson saying the new model would better serve populations that have faced barriers in getting to the few existing PODs.

Pankow said HonorHealth would be reaching out to eligible patients to schedule their vaccination appointment and that for now, it is not open to the general public.

HonorHealth will be following eligibility recommendations put out by the state and county. When asked specifically which guidelines they would follow, considering that the state and county currently have different parameters, Jackson said they would follow the guidelines set out by whoever is providing the shots.