COVID-19 vaccine: 3 things to know about vaccine distribution in southwest Missouri

As millions of Missourians await their chance to get a COVID-19 vaccine, health care facilities, health departments and pharmacies are ramping up to get shots in arms.

But as providers announce plans, launch sign-up forms and gauge public interest in the vaccine, the News-Leader interviewed officials in southwest Missouri helping to coordinate the effort to answer some of your questions about the vaccine rollout and what’s coming ahead.

A fair warning: There are a lot of big questions that still remain about how many doses of vaccine will be coming and when, but providers and experts hope to have more answers soon.

Here are three big things we know.

1. Only some people qualify to get the COVID-19 vaccine right now

The state of Missouri has organized its vaccine rollout in a series of phases. The first was patient-facing health care workers, paramedics and emergency services professionals as well as residents and staff in long-term care facilities.

The federal government is taking care of the long-term care folks through a partnership with Walgreens and CVS.

But the rest of that group have been covered by vaccination partners including health systems and public health departments. Many of those people have received vaccines, though the effort will continue as more doses become available.

Then, last week, the state announced it would open up vaccines to even more people, making first responders and at-risk individuals, including those over 65, eligible to receive it.

In southwest Missouri, CoxHealth, Mercy and Jordan Valley Community Health Center all launched portals online to allow people to sign up to receive a vaccine if they’re eligible.

Cox’s pre-registration form is available at https://www.coxhealth.com/covid/vaccine/.

Mercy’s is available at http://www.Mercy.net/MOVaccine.

Jordan Valley, which is partnering with local health departments to distribute vaccine, also has a pre-registration form at jordanvalley.rog/covid-19-vaccine.

The state also announced earlier this week it would set up vaccination sites across Missouri capable of administering up to 2,500 vaccines per day, though it is unclear where one would be established southwest Missouri and when it would open.

More:Missouri to start vaccinating 1st responders, at-risk individuals for COVID-19

2. There isn’t enough COVID vaccines available right now, so leaders are urging patience

All of those developments and portals are good news, but there’s a big caveat: Right now, there is not enough vaccine available to cover everyone currently eligible to receive one. At some providers, there isn't any available at all.

Part of the issue has to do with the supply chain.

Vaccines are currently distributed after approved local providers put in an order to the state, which then receives an allotted number of doses from the federal government and distributes some amount to the providers who requested one.

But that number coming to the state has been somewhat unreliable, especially in recent months, when states reported receiving significantly fewer doses than expected from the federal government.

That supply chain also means that local health providers often can’t predict how many doses are coming and when, leaving their patients to also wait for more information.

“We want to communicate with the public (when they may be able to get the vaccine), but we just don’t have the information to do that,” said Ashley Casad, CoxHealth’s vice president of clinical services. “We’ve been getting 3,000-plus phone calls a day just about the vaccine, but at the end of the day, we just don’t know yet how much we are getting.”

In southwest Missouri as a whole, Casad estimated there were about 250,000 people eligible to receive the vaccine in the latest tier of eligibility, so it will also take some time before everyone will be able to get one.

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But both Casad and Dr. David Barbe, the vice president of primary care at Mercy in southwest Missouri, said patients should fill out the interest forms to ensure that once vaccine doses become available, people will be notified so they can set up an appointment.

On Saturday, Mercy announced it would open centralized shot clinics across the region to be held on Saturdays as supply allows.

Initially, those clinics will be held in Branson, Bolivar, Mountain Grove and Rolla, but a news release said they hoped to open ones in Aurora and Cassville soon. 

In order to get a shot at one of those clinics, people should fill out the online form and will be notified when they can get an appointment.

Barbe said Mercy was working on prioritizing appointmrnts in a “thoughtful, health-care centered way” to make sure those who need the vaccine most urgently will be eligible.

But still, he said, it may take several weeks before even those folks can get in to be vaccinated.

“(Our interest has been) very high,” he said. “The people that are signing up now want it right now, they’re eager to get it.”

Casad, from Cox, said people who fill out their interest form will also be notified when they can sign up for an appointment. Location information will also be available at that time. 

For general vaccine notifications, the Springfield-Greene County Health Department is also providing email, text and phone updates about vaccine developments, which you can sign up for at health.springfieldmo.gov/FinishStrong. More information about vaccine safety and availability is also available at health.springfieldmo.gov/COVIDvaccine.

The department also has a informational phone line where people can ask questions, which is open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. That number is 417-874-1211.

The story continues below. 

3. If I'm not in those at-risk groups, when will I be able to get the vaccine?

After first responders and folks with health conditions that put them at higher risk of getting sick, the next group to be eligible for the vaccine is people working in sectors deemed "critical infrastructure."

That category includes people such as teachers, child care providers, food production or processing workers, elected officials and other infrastructure employees.

After that will be people at greater risk of being impacted by the virus, such as incarcerated people or those who are homeless, and then the vaccine will be open to all Missouri residents.

A complete list of those who are eligible at each phase is available at covidvaccine.mo.gov/residents/.

Officials have noted in the past that the state may move on to the next phase of eligibility before the previous one is complete, so those who have qualified in past phases remain eligible throughout the process.

It's unclear when the state will open up vaccines to a greater number of people, but more vaccine is certainly coming to Missouri.

Last week in his announcement about mass vaccination sites, Gov. Mike Parson, a Republican, said he expected the state to receive 76,000 additional doses by the end of the week and the same amount the following week.

Like health care providers, Parson urged patience.

"Current demand far outweighs the current supply," he said. "We're going to get to everybody — we'll get to everybody."

Katie Kull covers local government for the News-Leader. Got a story to tell? Give her a call at 417-408-1025 or email her at kkull@news-leader.com. You can also support local journalism at News-Leader.com/subscribe.