Searching For a Shot in the Arm

                                                by Pat Lindsey

There are many people in our community trying to help one another get their COVID immunizations as quickly as possible. The quest to find the vaccine is similar to trying to buy a Playstation 5. You find hot tips and the one who gets there the fastest wins. There are also many anecdotal accounts of how people managed to reach that goal. In some cases, one spouse has had an appointment and has been able to take the other spouse with him to get a shot. Others have walked into vaccination centers at the end of the day and were lucky to get the leftover doses. Still others have traveled out of town to Hannibal, Salem, or Potosi to get their vaccine when a dose might have soon been available at a local Walgreens.

Some say the registration system is a mess while others have praised the efficiency of inoculation day itself at sites such as Christian Hospital Northeast, UMSL, Mercy, SSM, and others. We have friends who drove to Christian Northeast from Wright City. Others in North County have driven much further to Missouri cities 100 miles away. The first inoculation day at UMSL, with National Guard supervision, was last Saturday and 2,200 shots were given  You should still pre-register everywhere you can and when you reach the end of the pre-registration form, make a note of the patient number you are given. That patient number is essential if you call the various health care systems for an appointment. Also, check your email often, because notification of an appointment can come via email or phone. Vigilance is the key to making it happen for you, so don’t give up until you’re on your way to immunity.

Vaccines became more available this week as County Executive Sam Page announced that the 3,000 doses not received last week because of weather conditions, ware being doubled this week with the 3,000 more allocated doses. Thus 6,000 doses available for the county

A new, valuable resource that is currently being used to help people find the vaccine is:

Facebook Group for STL/Eastern MO: http://bit.ly/3uormDB. Join the group to read some of the discussions and get the latest tips on getting immunized more quickly.

(Persistent and a stroke of good luck for us this week, as all four of our family members received notification that shots were to be available for us at Mercy Thursday and Friday)

Try to pre-register at as many of the following as is possible:

My Google Sheet Tracker: https://bit.ly/3bkIjpt

MO COVID Vaccine Navigator:

Pre-Registration: http://bit.ly/37ykNEB

Call: (877) 435-8411

Mass Vaccination Event Listings: https://covidvaccine.mo.gov/events/

St. Louis County Public Health: Pre-registration: http://bit.ly/3br5nmq More info: https://stlcorona.com/covid19-vaccines/

 SSM: CALL 314-955-9600 – making appointments for ages 75+ as of 2/18 Pre-registration: https://bit.ly/2NbVwJr

Mercy: Pre-registration: https://bit.ly/3uoAdVM

Festus clinic: https://bit.ly/3br6cfo

Kirkwood clinic: https://bit.ly/3bguV5Q

Creve Coeur clinic: https://bit.ly/3s6 Anyone eligible under state plan can book an appointment, but you must have either MyMercy account credentials or a patient registration number.

St. Luke’s: Pre-registration: http://bit.ly/3k5uqzy

CALL: 636-685-7878 – reportedly making appointments for age 70+ as of 2/19 (unconfirmed)

   BJC: Pre-registration: http://bit.ly/3uiPsPK

Vaccinating in MO, IL. BJC is currently operating two public vaccine clinics in STL area (one on Clayton Ave on CWE campus and one at Christian Hospital Northeast).

The County’s biggest priority is to get as many people vaccinated as possible as quickly as possible, and as doses are delivered to the County they will be given to people ASAP. Please get the vaccine as soon as you are able, and encourage your friends and family to do the same.

Share on Facebook

Tweet

Follow us