Eight-Week Effort To Expand Vaccinations In The City Of St. Louis Annnounced

From the City of St. Louis:

March 29, 2021

Mayor Lyda Krewson today joined Missouri Governor Mike Parson and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in announcing a new federally supported community vaccination clinic to equitably provide up to an additional 168,000 COVID-19 vaccinations in the City of St. Louis over an eight-week period. The clinic launches April 7 and will vaccinate up to 3,000 people a day, seven days a week.

“I am immensely grateful to the Biden-Harris Administration and all our federal and state partners for working together to bring this program to the City,” said Mayor Krewson. “We are continuing to see a high demand for getting shots into arms. This clinic will greatly expand our capacity to successfully vaccinate some of our most vulnerable and high-risk residents.”

The eight-week program is designed to reach those most vulnerable to COVID-19 and who face economic, transportation, and/or other barriers in accessing quality health care.

The clinic will operate out of the concourse level of the Dome at America’s Center in Downtown St. Louis. The site was selected by a joint team of representatives from the State of Missouri, City of St. Louis, and FEMA due to its proximity to a large number of Missourians at high-risk of disease and limited access to health care. The Dome is also centrally located, ADA compliant, and accessible by public transportation. Arrangements are also being made to provide free parking nearby.

“Through our state-supported vaccination events, we have shown that we can efficiently get vaccines into arms on a very large scale,” said Governor Parson. “Since late January, we have been communicating with our federal partners to establish a FEMA mass vaccination site in Missouri. Now, with vaccine supplies increasing and the support of the White House and FEMA, we have the opportunity to deliver even more vaccines to the St. Louis area.”

“This special vaccination site enables us to help St. Louis be better protected from COVID-19 by increasing access to life-saving vaccines, particularly for those in the City who are medically at high-risk or underserved because they don’t have ready access to health care,” said Kathy Fields, Acting Regional Administrator for FEMA Region 7. “This effort will go a long way to ensure equitable access to vaccinations.”

The doses administered at this federally supported community vaccination clinic will be in addition to Missouri’s approximately 200,000 initial doses distributed weekly to nearly 1,050 state-approved vaccine providers. The type of vaccines administered at the Dome may vary from week to week depending on vaccine availability.

The Missouri National Guard, Department of Health and Senior Services, and State Emergency Management Agency will partner with FEMA, the U.S. Department of Defense, and the City of St. Louis to host this eight-week FEMA mass vaccination clinic.

The clinic will operate from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. seven days a week. Eligible residents will be identified through the state’s Vaccine Navigator [modhss.iad1.qualtrics.com]. Eligible Missourians can register online or by calling the state’s COVID-19 hotline at (877) 435-8411.

This press release was produced by the City of St. Louis. The views expressed here are the author’s own.