The St. Louis County Department of Public Health is planning to open two vaccine sites in South County and one in Eureka, in addition to the mass vaccination site set to open Wednesday in Ferguson.
The county announced Tuesday it is working with several regional fire/EMS districts to provide additional vaccine center locations on top of two already announced in North County.
Appointments for vaccines at Mehlville, Affton and Eureka fire districts will begin this Thursday, Feb. 4, from the preregistration list the county has. The county said as of Tuesday it is still working with more fire/EMS partners to stand up additional local sites around the county.
The St. Louis County Department of Public Health received 3,900 doses of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine Tuesday from one of its local hospital partners, allowing the county to open the mass vaccination site in Ferguson Wednesday and to begin offering shots in the three fire districts Thursday.
DPH will send invitations to currently preregistered individuals to schedule with the county, and all five sites will be available to select an appointment. There will be no vaccines given to walk-ups.
The Mehlville Fire Protection District vaccine site will be located at the No. 7 Firehouse, 5501 Old Lemay Ferry Road, 63129.
The Affton Fire Protection District’s vaccine site will be at its headquarters at 9282 Gravois Road, Chief Nick Fahs confirmed to The Call. The county is discouraging anyone from showing up who does not have an appointment but hopes to get a vaccine anyway. The Affton fire district has already been giving vaccines at its Gravois Road firehouse through the Department of Public Health since Thursday, with 650 vaccines given out so far over three days, Fahs noted. Most of those were first responders.
St. Louis County’s first mass vaccination site, at St. Louis Community College’s Florissant Valley campus, will be open for appointments starting Wednesday, Feb. 3. Vaccinations, meanwhile, will continue at the John C. Murphy Health Center in Berkeley. Due to freezer space and logistics, vaccines are not currently being offered at the South County Health Center.
The department said it intended to open 5,000 appointments this week. More appointments will be available if it continues to receive vaccine.
DPH has not received shipments from the state the past two weeks, so the county plans to continue working with hospital systems to expand the county’s vaccine reach.
For more information and to register for vaccination, visit http://www.stlcorona.com or send an email to dphcovidvaccine@stlouisco.com.
“This is an important moment in our response to this pandemic and I’m thrilled we are able to provide greater access to this life-saving vaccine,” said County Executive Sam Page in a news release. “I appreciate this partnership with one of our hospital systems, which allows us to get vaccines into arms across the county as quickly as possible.”
County officials stressed that DPH will not offer walk-up service at any of the vaccine sites. Only individuals who register will be given appointments, and no appointments are given unless vaccine is available.
Additionally, DPH said it will only vaccinate individuals who fall into categories set by the state: “Please do your part to respect the state’s tier criteria for those at highest risk based on occupation, age, or medical condition.”
