University of Arizona, pandemic, masks

A cyclist wearing a mask rides through the University of Arizona mall east of Old Main, on Aug. 28, 2020.

 Josh Galemore / Arizona Daily Star

The University of Arizona will start vaccinating educators across Pima County later this month in an effort to assist the county in distributing COVID-19 vaccinations.

The county will be expanding its vaccination efforts in the weeks ahead, as it moves late next week into the next phase, 1B. That phase includes older adults, ages 75 and up, and frontline essential workers including law enforcement and firefighters, teachers and child care workers.

Students at UC San Diego looking for a snack from a vending machine might be in for a surprise.

Details for how vaccinations at the UA will work are still being planned. However, the university will focus on vaccinating K-12 and Pima Community College educators along with its employees, said UA President Robert C. Robbins in an online news briefing Tuesday.

The vaccinations are expected to start Jan. 22. They will require an appointment, said Holly Jensen, the UA’s vice president of communications.

Meanwhile, ahead of Wednesday’s move-in day, the university had administered 6,184 COVID-19 tests during a testing blitz that started Wednesday.

Of those tests, 108 had positive results, with a positivity rate of about 1.7%, Robbins said.

Mandatory weekly testing will be required this semester for students attending in-person classes.

Compliance for weekly testing will be monitored. Those who don’t comply can lose WiFi access on campus, Robbins said.

The university reported 19 positive coronavirus cases Sunday, with 1,240 tests administered.

In the past 10 days the UA has given 8,063 tests with 180 positive cases, a 2.2% positivity rate, according to its COVID-19 dashboard.

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