‘Ample supply’ of COVID vaccine coming to Missouri, health officials say. Here’s when
If Johnson & Johnson receives federal authorization for its COVID-19 vaccine this month, Missouri should get a large shipment in March, the state’s top health official told reporters Wednesday. And by June, there should be a “very ample supply of vaccine” by several manufacturers.
Dr. Randall Williams, director of the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services, said he was briefed this week by federal Operation Warp Speed officials, but didn’t say how much of the new single-dose vaccine Missouri expects to receive initially.
As encouraging as that is, said Williams, he still can’t answer one question put to him frequently: When will Missouri move into its next tier of vaccine eligibility, a group that includes critical workers such as teachers. “We will see,” he said.
Missouri is currently vaccinating its first three groups, which include people age 65 and older and those with certain high-risk health conditions.
Mass vaccination events
Mass COVID-19 vaccination events set up mostly across rural Missouri by the National Guard probably won’t come to Kansas City and St. Louis, state officials have said.
But, if you’re currently eligible for the vaccine, you can register for one even if you don’t live in the area, said Adam Crumbliss, director of the community and public health division in the Department of Health and Senior Services.
That might require a bit of a drive, considering the closest one to Kansas City this week was in Clinton, Missouri.
Dates and times are at covidvaccine.mo.gov/events. The state is earmarking nearly a quarter of its vaccine allocation to them, Williams said.
The National Guard is finding it difficult to thaw frozen vials of vaccine at the outdoor events, said Robert Knodell, Deputy Chief of Staff for Gov. Mike Parson.
Freezing temperatures and nasty winter weather forced the cancellation of at least one event. “They try to postpone them a couple of days when conditions will permit, instead of weeks at a time to continue to get them done promptly, Knodell said.
He said the website will be updated over the coming days.
“We want people to be safe and be vaccinated in a safe fashion,” said Knodell.
Hospital vaccine distribution
Missouri is sending just over half of its weekly COVID-19 vaccine allocation to select hospitals — including five in the Kansas City metro — able to do at least 5,000 vaccinations in a week.
For example, Liberty and North Kansas City hospitals are part of a Clay County coalition that hosted its first vaccination clinics last week at Cerner World Headquarters. Invitations went to people who told the county in an online survey that they want the vaccine.
Check hospital websites for their involvement and sign-up procedures.
Speed and efficiency of distribution was the goal of getting the hospitals involved, said Crumbliss.
Many hospitals are targeting patients of doctors in their systems. But state officials also want them to reach out to more people.
“We know those hospital systems have a robust patient population that is interested in getting vaccine, and have a large proportion of people that will be in those (eligibility) tiers,” said Crumbliss.
“But we also expect those … health care centers to work with others in the community” to vaccinate residents they don’t already treat, he said.
The Vaccine Navigator
Missouri this week launched a new online tool, Vaccine Navigator — covidvaccine.mo.gov/navigator — for residents interested in getting the vaccine, and health officials are working to correct a shortcoming, they said.
After you provide your name, age and other information, such as underlying health conditions, the state will notify you when you’re eligible and point you toward a vaccination location — similar to the system used by many local health departments.
“One of the limitations we do have in that system, you can only sign up to get notification of events in your region,” said Crumbliss. “That doesn’t preclude you, however, from getting registered for an event that’s not in your region.
“That is one of the different components we have to continue working through.”
Since the tool was launched earlier this week, calls to the state’s COVID-19 hotline — 877-435-8411 — have ramped up. Williams said the average wait time before the Navigator launched was seven seconds, but didn’t say how long people are waiting this week.
He said health officials know they “have to increase resources” for the hotline because of the response.
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