In a 3-2 decision this week, Mohave County Board of Supervisors voted to stop accepting state funds linked to the CDC’s Bridge Access Program that pays for COVID-19 vaccinations.
The program reimburses states for vaccinations given to uninsured residents. The contract ends after June 30.
Mohave County Supervisor Ron Gould voted against the extension, saying people on Medicare and Arizona's Medicaid program can still get the shot covered.
“It’s not really an issue of being too poor to afford the vaccine, I think the middle people choose not to be insured. I think that’s what it boils down to is people choose not to be insured," Gould said.
Chad Kingsley, Mohave County health director, says the contract mostly helped rural residents.
"We are doing it for those in the rural communities who do not have access to CVS or Walgreens and would like the opportunity to have it," Kingsley said.
Mohave County Supervisor Buster Johnson says the CDC is grouping COVID vaccines with other shots and denying the extension means the county is left with the tab for other vaccines as well.
