All four major hospital systems in St. Louis are now signing members of the public up for COVID-19 vaccines, although when those shots will be available is still an open question.
As more people in the state of Missouri become eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, the hospital systems have created online registrations that allow members to sign up to be notified when their tier is eligible.
BJC HealthCare:
https://www.bjc.org/Coronavirus/Covid-19-Vaccines
You can register now to receive a vaccine and once your eligibility window opens you will be invited to make an appointment.
Mercy:
Mercy has created an online method to help facilitate the process. If any 1A or 1B-1 providers or staff need the vaccine, visit mercy.net/MOVaccine to confirm eligibility and to register.
SSM Health:
If you are a patient, register with MyChart at mychart.ssmhc.com. SSM will email patients when it is time to register for a vaccination appointment. Questions may be sent to COVIDVaccinationSTL@ssmhealth.com
St. Luke’s Hospital:
The St. Luke’s vaccine portal still focuses on the 1A tier, but other applicants who are eligible will receive a confirmation email with a link to make their vaccination appointments.
The hospital systems have opened registration for the vaccine to residents of Missouri and Illinois, with questions that ask your name, age, whether you are a health-care or essential worker and whether you are already a patient of the hospital system. You can still sign up even if you are not a current patient at most of the portals, although SSM Health requires you to be a patient and sign up for the patient portal MyChart.
Missouri opened up vaccines to the 1B tier that includes residents age 65 and over as of Monday, but so far, vaccines have not been widely available. Illinois said it will start vaccinating the 1B tier starting Monday, Jan. 25.
St. Louis County has also opened up registration for the vaccine, but so far the county has only received 975 doses for the more than 100,000 people who have registered. More vaccines could arrive Tuesday, however.
Although signing up does not guarantee you will get a vaccine soon, the hospitals say they will try to vaccinate the greatest number of people in the shortest time frame. Right now, more than 1.5 million people in the St. Louis region are eligible to receive the vaccine.
New hospitalizations in the region declined to 67 as of the latest numbers released Monday, down from 92 Sunday. The seven-day moving average of hospitalizations decreased from 102 to 100.
Among those who can receive a vaccine immediately when it is available: health-care workers, first responders like EMS, fire and police and those over the age of 65 or over the age of 40 with specific health conditions. You can find a specific list of who is in what tier by visiting Missouri’s website.
“Successful vaccination of the community is an important milestone in ending the pandemic, and we know there are many people anxiously awaiting their chance to receive vaccine,” the St. Louis Metropolitan Pandemic Task Force said. “Coordinating this distribution will take some time, but please know, we are working hard to ensure that you and your family can receive the vaccine at the appropriate time. In the meantime, please continue practicing habits that keep you and your loved ones safe, which include washing your hands, avoiding large crowds and maintaining social distance when you are around others.”
Missouri Health Departments
Illinois Health Departments
Bond County – Call 618-664-1442
Clinton County – Call 618-594-2723
