Missouri sets Arrowhead Stadium as site for two-day ‘mega vaccination’ next week
Missouri officials will hold a “mega-vaccination” event at Arrowhead Stadium for Kansas City and Jackson County residents next Friday and Saturday, Gov. Mike Parson announced Thursday.
At least 6,000 residents will be able to get the Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 shot between the two days. The event will be run by two Missouri National Guard units staffing the stadium from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. March 19 and 20. Residents must have an appointment.
It will be open to anyone currently eligible who is on Jackson County Health Department’s waiting list.
Vaccine eligibility in Missouri currently includes health care workers, those 65 and older and residents with certain pre-existing conditions. It will expand to a variety of “critical infrastructure” workers next week, which includes teachers, transit workers, grocery store employees, food and agriculture workers and others.
The state is planning a similar location in the St. Louis area, Parson said at an afternoon press conference.
“We are working as quickly as supply will allow to meet the higher vaccine demand in our cities, while still keeping vaccine distribution equitable across the state,” he said.
The event will relieve some pressure from Jackson County’s 100,000-deep waiting list, said Kansas City State Sen. Barbara Washington, who is among the officials organizing the event.
Residents will be chosen off the waiting list to make appointments, with priority given to “those persons who are most vulnerable, by either income, poverty levels or the susceptibility to the disease,” Washington said. That may include seniors who haven’t yet been vaccinated and residents of independent living facilities, who can be bused to the event by the Kansas City Area Transportation Authority.
Parson said those chosen will be notified of the day and time of their appointment. Health officials will work with the Urban League of Greater Kansas City to reach out to underserved communities.
Earlier this week, Kansas City Health Department Director Rex Archer said he wanted to see the stadium turned into a mass vaccine site to help close the gap in vaccine distribution. By population, the Kansas City region was behind by about 40,000 doses of the state’s allocation.
In Jackson County, 15.4% of the population has received the vaccine while the state’s proportion sits at 17.5%, according to the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services.
The gap has caused outcry from officials and residents in the state’s urban areas. For the past month, his administration has faced criticism that the state’s allocation methods shortchanged the big cities while doses were frequently left over after National Guard mass vaccination events in rural areas.
Last week, it even led Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas to write the Federal Emergency Management Agency to intervene.
Lucas said Thursday that he will continue working with FEMA on vaccine distribution.
“The state’s announcement of a COVID-19 large-scale vaccination event at Arrowhead Stadium is a good, if belated, step — but one mass-vaccination event is not enough,” he said in a statement to The Star. “Kansas Citians need clarity and consistency, not just a one-off event. I will continue our efforts with FEMA on additional events, and will continue working with Governor Parson and and Missouri government to get more vaccines to Kansas City.”
Parson has repeatedly stated the state’s distribution is fair and population differences explain the gaps. But he has moved to allocate doses toward urban areas more as vaccine supplies have increased. By April 1 the state will be holding two weekly, regular mass vaccination events in Kansas City’s region.