ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Mo. — St. Louis County expects to make an announcement within the next week on its efforts to get vaccines into the arms of educators.
County Executive Sam Page reiterated that the county isn’t fully ready to open up vaccine appointments to those in Missouri’s Phase 1B-Tier 3, which the state activated Monday morning. Tier 3 includes teachers and childcare providers.
“The health department will continue to prioritize the most vulnerable people in each tier for appointments,” Page said during his COVID-19 briefing Monday morning. “At the same time, we recognize our teachers and school employees need to get vaccinated so we can get our schools reopened safely in person.”
Page said the county is working with school officials to come up with a vaccination plan.
“The St. Louis County Department of Public Health is working closely with school administrators to come up with vaccination solutions specifically for educators. We expect to have an announcement on that by next Monday,” he said.
Parkway Schools announced over the weekend it will hold a vaccination event this week for all district staff members who are interested. There will be 1,100 doses available by appointment only for those in the school district. Parkway said it's working to secure additional dates and doses, if needed.
County health officials estimated an additional 100,000 residents are now eligible for the vaccine under the state’s Tier 3 list.
Page said the county may begin opening appointments for those in Tier 3 “in the coming days.”
“While we may begin inviting some individuals in Tier 3 to make appointments for vaccine in the coming days, we must remember that many people in earlier tiers have been waiting a long time to get their chance,” Page said. “We intend to prioritize people in the earlier tiers in the next week or more.”
St. Louis County residents can register by visiting stlcorona.com and following the link for registration.
If you would like more information on how to get on a vaccine waitlist in your community, read 5 On Your Side's complete vaccination guide with links, phone numbers and the latest on mass vaccine events in your area.
Page also announced a change in the county’s isolation and quarantine order to be consistent with CDC guidelines.
Beginning Monday, those who’ve been exposed to a person with the virus need to self-quarantine for 10 days, beginning with the day of first exposure. If no symptoms develop after 10 days, the quarantine can end. Under the previous order, it was 14 days.
Those who test positive need to self-isolate for 10 days after symptoms begin. Patients can end the isolation after 10 days as long as symptoms improve and they are fever-free for 24 hours. The previous order mandated a 14-day isolation.
Full details are on the county’s COVID-19 website.