While some South County residents have been contacted by St. Louis County and local hospitals to get the COVID-19 vaccine, the demand in St. Louis is far exceeding the supply from the state.
St. Louis County gave 9,000 doses of the vaccine last week to make up double doses after a week’s shipment was delayed due to winter weather, but from here on out the county expects to receive 3,000 doses per week, an amount that should grow once the state receives more vaccine supply. County officials are building capacity to administer up to 10,000 doses per week, but so far, the doses haven’t followed.
Many St. Louis area residents have driven hours to find the vaccine at the state’s mass vaccination sites or at pharmacies. Here’s a list to help make the hunt easier.
If you haven’t been contacted already for an appointment, your best bets for getting the vaccine this week or weekend are through MU Health Care in Columbia and a walk-up mass event in Bolivar, 3.5 hours from St. Louis. See below for full details on MU Health Care. Hundreds of appointments were available at the time this article went to press.
Those who currently qualify for the vaccine can walk up from 9 a.m. to noon Saturday, March 6, in Ash Grove, Bolivar, Buffalo, El Do and Stockton. There will be 1,000 total doses available. See more information here.
All St. Louis County vaccinations are by appointment only, with no walk-ups taken.
The Department of Public Health now recommends that residents register with multiple vaccinators to have the best chance at getting an appointment.
- First, register with St. Louis County by visiting stlcorona.com. Click on the vaccine registration link.
- Second, register on the state’s Vaccine Navigator site. Go to covidvaccine.mo.gov and click on “register now.”
- Third, register on area hospital websites. All of our region’s hospital systems are taking registrations from the public.
- Finally, contact local pharmacies. Some locations may become approved vaccination sites.
While multiple registrations are recommended, it’s important to only accept one appointment so that you don’t prevent anyone else from getting their shot.
State-run mass vaccination sites
State-run mass vaccination sites are being announced on a weekly basis with week or so notice. Future state-run events in St. Louis County will pull from the state preregistration list, not the county’s list, county officials confirmed to The Call.
The Missouri COVID-19 Vaccine Navigator, where state residents can preregister, is available at https://covidvaccine.mo.gov/navigator/ by clicking “Register Now.”
Those without internet access can call 877-435-8411.
The state is listing future events on its website: https://covidvaccine.mo.gov/events/. A vaccination event March 1 and 2 in Arnold quickly filled up from Jefferson County’s preregistration list, but many South County residents have had success getting the vaccine by driving hours to more rural areas of Missouri where the National Guard-staffed mass vaccination sites are being held.
Sign up with hospitals
Residents can also sign up with St. Louis hospitals, which have been receiving most of the vaccine supply dedicated to the area by the state. But the hospital systems have sent emails to those who have preregistered noting that with hundreds of thousands of people on the waiting list, so far the hospitals have only been able to reach a small fraction of those who want the vaccine.
The VA:
The VA of St. Louis announced Thursday that it will start vaccinating veterans 50 years of age or older in the St. Louis region. Click for full information.
The VA St. Louis Health Care System will administer COVID-19 vaccines at Grand Hall on Chouteau and VA Outpatient Clinics in St. Louis County, St. Charles County and St. Clair County in Illinois, starting this weekend.
Enrolled veterans who are 50 years old and over, or with comorbidities, may now sign up to receive COVID-19 vaccination.
BJC HealthCare:
https://www.bjc.org/Coronavirus/Covid-19-Vaccines
You can register now with BJC to receive a vaccine and once your eligibility window opens you will be invited to make an appointment.
Those without internet access can call the COVID-19 Vaccine Line at 314-273-1252, 8 a.m.-4 p.m., Monday through Friday. Hold times may be long.
BJC has started giving people signed up a few weeks’ notice that they will be up on the vaccine list.
In an email sent Feb. 24, BJC said that more than 329,791 members of the community have signed up to receive vaccines, and the hospital system has vaccinated more than 70,038 eligible people, including employees, patients and many who have not visited a BJC hospital or a doctor.
The hospital has set up five vaccine clinics: St. Louis, Belleville, North County, Wentzville and Farmington.
Mercy:
Mercy has created an online method to help facilitate the process. Visit mercy.net/MOVaccine to confirm eligibility and to register. Appointments at individual clinics can be made at the following link: https://www.mercy.net/missouri-covid-19-vaccinations/ and patients have reported success in finding appointments at the Ballas, Washington and other Mercy clinics through that link. Mercy’s mass site for vaccinations is in Kirkwood.
Here is a direct link to clinics, which some have reported working for setting up appointments:
Kirkwood – https://www.mercy.net/practice/mercy-covid-vaccine-clinic-kirkwood/
Ballas – https://www.mercy.net/practice/mercy-covid-vaccine-clinic-ballas/#scheduling
Patients signed up with Mercy received an email that with more than 388,000 people on Mercy’s waiting list, the hospital system has been able to vaccinate just a fraction.
Starting Friday, Mercy’s IT team will make links to sign up for the vaccine one-time links so that they can’t be passed on to friends and family who aren’t eligible for the vaccine yet.
SSM Health:
If you are a patient, register with MyChart at mychart.ssmhc.com. MyChart will send a notification to patients when it is time to register for a vaccination appointment. SSM is focused on vaccinating patients over 75 years old.
Questions may be sent to COVIDVaccinationSTL@ssmhealth.com.
If you do not have access to the internet and are over 75 years old, you can call 314-687-2663. Long holds are possible.
St. Luke’s Hospital:
St. Luke’s is currently vaccinating individuals in current tiers at its hospital in Chesterfield, but in early April the vaccine clinic will be moved to an upper floor at Chesterfield Mall in order to add space and expand capacity, the hospital announced Friday.
People’s Health Center:
To sign up for a COVID-19 vaccination, go to this link or call 314-367-7848: https://phcenters.org/covid/
Sign up with Walmart
Walmarts and Sam’s Clubs in Missouri started offering the COVID-19 vaccine to eligible Missourians Feb. 12, and one of the participating pharmacies is at the Walmart on Watson Road in Shrewsbury.
Only two Walmarts in the St. Louis region will be offering shots, including the Shrewsbury Walmart. The other St. Louis Walmart offering the shot is at 10741 W. Florissant Ave. in North County. Some St. Louis residents have reported success scheduling vaccinations in other places in Missouri through Walmart’s site.
To check eligibility and schedule an appointment, visit www.walmart.com/COVIDvaccine and www.samsclub.com/covid.
Anyone receiving the shot must be eligible under Missouri standards, which mean that anyone over the age of 65, first responders and healthcare workers can currently receive the shot.
The Walmart at 7437 Watson Road in Shrewsbury is one of the 81 Missouri locations offering the vaccine.
Walmart has also begun a mass vaccination site at Harris-Stowe State University’s Emerson Performance Center, 3026 Laclede Ave. To sign up for future events, call 833-886-0023.
Local health departments:
Missouri Health Departments
Illinois Health Departments
Bond County – Call 618-664-1442
Clinton County – Call 618-594-2723
I’ve tried all of the above and can’t get an appointment. What do I do?
Hospital systems outside St. Louis:
MU Health Care at the University of Missouri-Columbia has hundreds of open appointments as of Thursday. You can sign up for appointments or sign up for the list to be notified of vaccine availability.
https://www.muhealth.org/our-stories/how-do-i-get-covid-19-vaccine
Walmarts outside St. Louis:
There are 79 Walmarts outside St. Louis offering the vaccine. To check eligibility and schedule an appointment, visit www.walmart.com/COVIDvaccine and www.samsclub.com/covid.
Walgreens outside St. Louis:
Walgreens in Illinois:
Since teachers are allowed to get the vaccine in Illinois and since Walgreens is getting its vaccine through a federal program, some Missouri teachers have reported success getting vaccines at Walgreens pharmacies in Illinois.
You will need to make a Walgreens.com account to sign up for an appointment.
Here are some of the Walgreens locations in the Metro East with the vaccine:
Belleville
East St. Louis
Maryville
Troy
Health departments outside the St. Louis area:
Phelps County – Rolla area
Fill out the vaccine survey here.
Boone County – Columbia. Fill out the vaccine survey online, or call 573-771-CARE (2273).
https://www.como.gov/covidvaccine/
St. Francois County –
Registrations are taken through the Missouri Navigator statewide website or by calling 1-877-435-8411. The county said it intends to hold weekly events to vaccinate as many as possible.
http://sfchc.org/covid-19-updates/covid-19-vaccine/
To see contact information for many more Missouri counties, see this Fox 2 article.
Pharmacies in the St. Louis region:
Dellwood Pharmacy –
CNN reported on Dellwood Pharmacy and the vaccines the North County pharmacy, 9944 W. Florissant Ave., has available. Visit https://www.dellwoodpharmacy.com/ or call 314-868-3333.
Pharmax in Imperial has had the COVID-19 vaccine, but has stopped taking names for its waitlist. Check back to this site to see if the waitlist has reopened: https://www.pharmax-rx.com/waitlist
Pharmacies outside St. Louis:
The Hy-Vee pharmacies in Lake of the Ozarks and Jefferson City have doses, keep checking for availability:
