Arizona Health Department Issues Orders For Access To COVID And Flu Vaccines

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September 9, 2026

By Staff Reporter |

The Arizona Department of Health Services (ADHS) has issued standing orders for access to the latest COVID-19 and influenza vaccines.

These standing orders grant authority to authorized healthcare professionals to administer the vaccines to all individuals aged six months and older, including pregnant women.

These authorized healthcare professionals include physicians, physician assistants, advanced practice registered nurses or nurse practitioners, and pharmacists. Additionally, pharmacists may delegate the administration of both vaccines to an active, licensed, trained intern and pharmacy technicians under pharmacist supervision.

ADHS explained in a press release that it issued the standing orders amid uncertainty with the schedule and timing of the next meeting by the Centers for Disease Control’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), the entity responsible for developing vaccine schedule recommendations.

ACIP canceled the first two of three meetings scheduled for this year, one in March and one in June, due to ongoing litigation. The third meeting is scheduled to take place from October 21-23. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) sued the Department of Health and Human Services over ACIP appointments made by Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and the new childhood immunization schedule.

ADHS identified COVID-19 and influenza as “major” and “significant” causes of morbidity in its respective standing orders.

Dr. Richard Carmona, ADHS public health medical advisor and the nation’s former surgeon general, said the standing orders ensured “safe and timely access” to the vaccines necessary for preventing severe illness and death.

The American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) and AAP recommend the influenza vaccine once or twice per year for children aged six months to approximately nine years old, and once per year for minors from approximately nine to 18 years old. For adults, the AAFP recommends the influenza vaccine between the ages of 19 and 64 years old; the recommended schedule did not provide a specific dosage amount.

The AAFP and the AAP recommend the COVID-19 vaccine once or more per year for children aged six months to 18 years old. For adults, the AAFP recommends one or more doses of the COVID-19 vaccine for individuals between the ages of 19 to 64 years, and two or more doses for those aged 65 years or older.

The American College of Obstetricians & Gynecologists recommends that all pregnant and lactating women receive the COVID-19 vaccine and booster shots.

So far for the ADHS 2025-2026 respiratory illness reporting season — which runs from November 2025 through October 2026 — there have been more than 19,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and approximately 49,700 confirmed influenza cases.

The latest ADHS data on the leading causes of mortality in Arizona from 2023 reported that COVID-19 was the 11th leading cause of death and influenza and pneumonia were the 13th leading cause of death; just over 950 deaths were attributed to COVID-19 and slightly more than 900 deaths were attributed to influenza and pneumonia.

COVID-19, influenza, and pneumonia accounted for approximately 3% collectively of the 16 leading causes of death identified in 2023.

The top three identified leading causes of death — heart disease, malignant neoplasms, and accidents — accounted for approximately 62% of deaths that year.