Missouri Gov. Mike Parson visited a St. Louis vaccination site Thursday and sounded optimistic about getting shots as soon as possible to all residents, even as critics in urban areas have complained that rural parts of the state are getting more than their proportional share.
Update: Hospital officials said 3,000 vaccine appointments were filled in less than three hours after the announcement.Â
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Our earlier story, posted at 12:30 p.m.
COLUMBIA, Mo. — Hospital officials here announced Thursday they are trying to fill “hundredsâ€Â of open vaccine appointment slots this week.
“This opportunity is the result of successfully shrinking numbers of eligible unvaccinated individuals and an increasing supply of vaccine doses,â€Â read a press release about the announcement sent to reporters across the state.
Those who meet current state eligibility requirements, such as those over age 65 or with high-risk conditions, can visit to schedule an appointment. Slots are available for Friday, March 5, through Sunday, March 7.
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The doses are provided by University of Missouri Health Care at its vaccination site: the at MU’s football stadium. The site allows for appropriate spacing and minimal wait times, officials said.
The doses are available by appointment only. Those who need help scheduling an appointment can call the COVID-19 vaccine call center at (573) 771-2273. The call center is open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.
The unfilled slots are another example of differences in vaccination efforts among rural and urban areas of state.Â
While more rural areas of the state are struggling to fill appointments or find arms for all the doses available at mass vaccination events, the demand in urban areas can’t keep up with supply. Many residents in the St. Louis area report driving up to three hours away to find doses.
A private consulting firm hired by the state of Missouri recently found that more than 30% of Missourians were traveling outside of the county where they live to get a shot.
A copy of the analysis by Deloitte Consulting was requested Thursday by the Post-Dispatch.
The firm’s analysis using data through Feb. 17 also found the state’s urban areas have the largest “vaccination gapsâ€Â — based on the estimated number of eligible residents who haven’t received their first dose of vaccine.
Jurisdictions with the top five gaps are St. Louis County, Jackson County, St. Charles County, city of St. Louis and Greene County (where Springfield is located), the report showed. The percentage of eligible residents who have received their first dose in those jurisdictions range from 18.4% to 22.8%. The statewide average is 27.2%.
“Targeted mass vaccination sites and innovative vaccine administration methods can assist with closing the gap between vaccine eligible populations and administered vaccines in these geographies,†the firm suggested.
An additional estimated 550,000 Missourians, including teachers, grocers and bus drivers, will become eligible for COVID-19 vaccines on March 15.
Dr. Alex Garza, chief of the St. Louis Metropolitan Pandemic Task Force, cautioned during a briefing Wednesday that those residents may not be able to get vaccinated right away. The hospitals want to make sure the majority of the currently eligible residents, including the elderly and sick, are vaccinated before moving into the next tiers.
