St. Louis VA opens vaccines to veterans of all ages

March 12, 2021

Mike Shannon, a lead maintenance driver with the St. Louis County Department of Transportation, is administered the first dose of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine Tuesday, Feb. 2, 2021, at St. Louis County’s mass vaccination site in Ferguson. The site, which is located at the Florissant Valley campus of St. Louis Community College, began public vaccinations the following day for those eligible.

VA St. Louis Health Care System has eliminated age requirements for enrolled veterans to receive the COVID-19 vaccine at its area vaccine clinics.

To date, close to 22,000 Missouri and Illinois veterans who receive care at VASTLHCS have rolled up their sleeves and received either the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines from one of the area VA vaccine clinics.

The vaccine is free of charge and will be administered at VA Outpatient Clinics in St. Louis County, St. Charles County, St. Clair County (IL) and the Grand Hall on Chouteau (St. Louis City). Veterans must be enrolled in Veterans Affairs Hospital healthcare to receive the vaccine at this time. Pfizer or Moderna will be offered depending on availability.

Veterans interested in getting vaccinated should email STLCOVIDVetVaccine@va.gov with their name and phone number. Do not include any private information such as medical diagnoses, Social Security number or last four. Appointments are available Monday through Sunday, subject to availability. A member of the VA Vaccine Scheduling Office will call to screen and schedule the appointment.

The vaccine is administered in two doses, 21 days apart (Pfizer) and 28 days apart (Moderna). The side effects appear similar to those of other vaccines and are short-lived. The veteran’s next vaccine appointment will be scheduled once they receive their first dose. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention specify that because of the differences in formulations of the various COVID vaccines available, this two-dose series must be administered at the same location. By receiving the first dose at VA St. Louis, veterans agree to return to the same location for their second dose for their own safety and to ensure maximum vaccine efficacy.

Veterans with scheduled vaccine appointments should:

Dress in a short-sleeved shirt or one that can be easily pulled up to get to your shoulder
Come to your scheduled clinic location and go through the screening process prior to checking in
If you have received any vaccine within the last two weeks, it is not advised that you receive the COVID-19 vaccine at this time.

Veterans who are not enrolled in VA health care can apply by completing the health care application VA Form 10-10EZ (January 2020) in one of these ways: