ST. LOUIS — Millions of people are anxiously waiting to get their shot in the fight against the coronavirus. And as more vaccine clinics and mass vaccination sites open, you might be wondering if you can sign up for an event, even if you don’t live where it’s happening.
5 On Your Side has heard about people traveling hours to get a COVID-19 vaccine. But what if you just want to cross county lines to get a dose? What if going to the nearest location means crossing state lines? We reached out to health leaders in Missouri and Illinois to get the answers.
On the Missouri side, the state health leaders said they’re encouraging providers to vaccinate any Missouri resident, but some locations might be prioritizing their county residents first. The same goes for out-of-state residents. The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services encouraged people to first try their home county’s health department before making the trip over the Mississippi River.
Health officials in Illinois have a similar stance. The Illinois Department of Public Health is encouraging residents to get the vaccine in the state and county where they live. They added that vaccine allocation from the federal government takes into account the population of each state, and the state also use the population of each county.
Illinois health leaders said some residents have been vaccinated out of state, and vice versa. They added that some local health departments and providers might choose to vaccinate only county residents who are eligible.
Bottom line, it’s a good idea to reach out to the vaccination site to see if they’re taking out-of-county applications.
But do keep in mind if you travel for the vaccine, you should get the second dose from the same provider as the first. So, you’ll have to make that same trip again.