Phase 2 of Missouri’s COVID-19 Vaccination Plan opens today, Monday, March 29, extending COVID-19 vaccine eligibility to approximately 880,000 Missourians.

The activation of Phase 2 will extend vaccine eligibility to approximately 880,000 additional adult Missourians. In total, an estimated 3.9 million adult Missourians are eligible for a COVID-19 vaccine, out of the state’s 6 million residents.

Phase 2 includes Missourians who are essential to equitable economic recovery, including those employed in construction, critical manufacturing, financial services, higher education and remaining food and agriculture sectors. This also includes homeless and disproportionately affected populations with an emphasis on racial and ethnic minorities, among others. The St. Louis County Department of Public Health estimates that about 125,000 county residents fall into this category.

With urging from Rep. Jim Murphy of Oakville, Gov. Mike Parson agreed to schedule the estate’s first mass vaccination event in South County for 9 a.m. Saturday, April 3, at Bernard Middle School, 1054 Forder Road. The state registration portal, the Missouri Vaccine Navigator, is set to open for citizens of South County to register for the South County event on Monday, Murphy said. There will be 1,200 doses of the one-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine available.

The county Department of Public Health is also establishing additional vaccination locations as the number of people seeking appointments increases, including two new mass vaccination sites in South County. The first of these will be held Saturday, April 3 at South Technical High School in Sunset Hills. That will be followed by a vaccination event April 8 at the Kennedy Recreation Center in Concord. Both will take place from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. and are by appointment only.

The addition of the two new sites means that St. Louis County will now administer vaccinations in more than 15 locations, including mobile units that serve senior housing complexes and homebound individuals. DPH is working with social service agencies to reach the unhoused population.

The department is currently vaccinating 15,000 people per week and has the capacity to administer a larger number of doses should the state supply them. Those wishing to receive a vaccine can find more information at stlcorona.com.

The same day that eligibility expands, Parson also announced that the state’s doses will nearly double, allowing for an eight-week mass vaccination site at The Dome at America’s Center football stadium to vaccine up to 3,000 residents of St. Louis each day, seven days a week.

In a news release, the governor applauded the continued efforts of state-supported vaccination teams and other community vaccine providers across the state.

“Today marks the activation of Phase 2 of our state’s Vaccination Plan, and I cannot thank our Missouri National Guard, DHSS (Department of Health and Senior Services), and FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) personnel as well as our countless state, local, and private partners enough for their efforts,” Parson said in the release. “With nearly 3.9 million adult Missourians now eligible, we have come a long way since vaccines first arrived in Missouri. This has truly been a team effort and will continue to be as we keep making progress toward our goal of providing every Missourian the opportunity for a vaccine.”

St. Louis area officials have criticized the state’s vaccine distribution for not providing as many vaccine doses to St. Louis as the population needs, but Parson pointed out that in just three days last week, more than 20,000 initial COVID-19 vaccine doses were administered in the St. Louis area through state-supported vaccination events alone. This does not include thousands of doses that were administered by various other community providers in the area.

At the state’s two-day mega vaccination event at St. Louis Community College–Forest Park, 6,600 Missourians were fully vaccinated with the Johnson & Johnson/Janssen vaccine. The state-supported clinics at the Family Arena in St. Charles and Greensfelder Recreation Complex at Queeny Park administered 9,000 and over 4,450 initial doses, respectively.

To date, Missouri providers have administered more than 2.34 million total doses of the COVID-19 vaccine to Missourians across the state. More than 1.5 million Missourians, nearly 25 percent, have received an initial vaccine dose, and more than 875,000 have been fully vaccinated.

Additionally, data shows that nearly 40 percent of the approximately 3 million Missourians who were eligible prior to Phase 2 have initiated vaccination. According to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, which includes the latest doses administered through federal partnerships, nearly 66 percent of  Missouri’s 65 and older population and 32 percent of  its 18 and older population have received an initial vaccination.

Missourians are encouraged to visit MOStopsCOVID.com to view the latest vaccine updates, find out when they are eligible for the vaccine and locate available vaccinators and events in their area. Missourians interested in receiving a vaccine at a state-supported event are encouraged to use the state’s Vaccine Navigator.