Missouri anticipates COVID-19 vaccines for all nursing home residents by end of 2020
Missouri will have enough COVID-19 vaccine doses to inoculate all nursing home residents by the end of December, the state’s top health official said Friday, a development that could finally end the scourge of cases and deaths that have ravaged the facilities.
Department of Health and Senior Services Director Randall Williams said the state has secured commitments for roughly 339,000 vaccine doses this month.
That would cover all long-term care facility residents and staff, in addition to healthcare workers who were already set to receive priority access.
“That’s groundbreaking news,” Williams told reporters on a conference call.
The vaccinations remain contingent on emergency approval of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines by the Food and Drug Administration. Both require an initial dose followed by a second dose weeks later and Williams said the number he provided includes an equal number of secondary doses.
The announcement comes after a federal advisory group recommended earlier this week that the first doses go to health care workers, as well as residents and staff of nursing homes and other long-term care facilities.
Nursing homes, with large numbers of elderly and frail individuals living together, have paid an especially heavy price during the pandemic. At least 525 deaths have been reported at Missouri nursing homes, accounting for about 13 percent of deaths statewide.
Missouri has about 58,000 nursing home residents at the moment, Williams said, with about 70,000 staff caring for them. The state has about 15,000 doctors, 5,000 medical students, and 130,000 nurses.
“So we have enough vaccines to cover them just in the month of December,” Williams said.
