Governor Doug Ducey quickly got down to business in his first meeting with the new leadership team at the Arizona Department of Health Services.

"We've got to get more people vaccinated," the Governor said at the beginning of his discussion earlier this week with Don Herrington, the department's interim director, and Dr. Richard Carmona, the senior advisor on public health emergency preparedness. "We've done a lot. We need to do more."

Herrington and Carmona agreed. 

"Our plan is to keep our eyes on the ball," Herrington said. "It's encouraging to see that people who've been hesitant about the vaccine are beginning to change their minds. Our message is getting through. Our job is to keep at it."

And that is why Governor Ducey tapped Carmona, a former United States Surgeon General, to spearhead Arizona's effort to get the life-saving vaccine into the arms of as many Arizonans as possible.

"We will stay focused on the mission and the mission is to get Arizonans vaccinated," said Carmona, a combat-decorated Vietnam veteran. "That's our way out of this. We're going to be innovative. We're going to be strategic. This is a great opportunity to change the narrative."

Carmona isn't wasting any time. After meeting with the Governor, he met the staff at DHS and outlined his ideas in an interview with KJZZ. Listen to that discussion here.