ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Mo. — In two weeks, an additional 550,000 Missourians will be eligible to receive one of the COVID-19 vaccines as the state opens up Phase 1B-Tier 3. That includes tens of thousands of teachers who have been anxiously waiting for their turn to roll up their sleeves and get a shot.
St. Louis County Executive Sam Page said preparations are underway to make sure teachers who want to be vaccinated can do so.
“St. Louis County is already working with school districts to come up with a solution for the county’s tens of thousands of teachers to get vaccinations quickly and efficiently,” Page announced Monday morning.
He said there aren’t any other details to release as of now, but those will be shared as soon as possible.
“We want to do all we can to help our school districts provide a safe learning environment,” he added.
About 125,000 people in St. Louis County have received at least one dose, according to the Missouri health department’s vaccine dashboard. The county has 370,000 people still waiting on its registration list for their first shot. Tier 3 will open up eligibility to upwards of 100,000 more residents, Page estimated, bringing the total to more than 500,000 people who will qualify beginning March 15.
Phase 1B, Tier 3 includes:
- Education (K-12)
- Childcare
- Communications Infrastructure
- Dams Sector
- Energy Sector
- Food & Agriculture Sector 1
- Government
- Information Technology
- Nuclear Reactor Sector
- Transportation Systems
- Water and Wastewater Systems
See full details about the state's vaccine plan on Missouri's COVID-19 vaccine website.
Page said the St. Louis County Department of Public Health is ready to amp up its delivery of vaccines to residents, as long as supply continues to increase.
“We have proven that we have the capacity to deliver more vaccine doses than the amount the state currently provides, and we are hopeful that the supply will increase exponentially to help us manage this larger list of people who qualify for the vaccines,” the county executive said.
Over the weekend, the Food and Drug Administration gave the go-ahead for Johnson & Johnson’s single-dose shot to be authorized for emergency use in the U.S., making it the third COVID-19 vaccine available for Americans. The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services announced Sunday it expects to receive about 50,000 doses this week.
County Executive Page called the authorization “another important step in getting more shots into the arms of people as quickly as possible.” He also asked for patience as the health department works to efficiently administer vaccines.
St. Louis County residents who want to register for the vaccine can do so by visiting stlcorona.com and following the link for registration. They may also email dphcovidvaccine@stlouisco.com to receive the same link. Once registered, a "thank you message" will appear on your screen, confirming the county has your information.
For more information about how you or a loved one can get on a registration list near you, follow our full COVID-19 vaccine registration coverage here.
You can watch St. Louis County Executive Sam Page's full briefing from Monday morning in the YouTube video below:
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