Cole County leaders ramping up vaccination effort as supply continues to be an issue

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ)

The Cole County Health Department is looking at ways to expand it's vaccination efforts, as supply continues to be short.

The Cole County Commission recently approved the purchase of a freezer to store the COVID-19 vaccine for the local health department.

The communicable disease coordinator for the CCHD Chezney Schulte said the vaccine is currently stored at hospitals in their ultra-low temperature freezer, and can only be stored at their location for 5 days.

"By having the ultra-low temperature freezer capacity at CCHD we will be able to store vaccine for a longer time in our facility and remove vaccine from ultra-low temperature freezer as needed," Schulte said.

Until recently, CCHD was only receiving doses of the vaccine that were redistributed from local hospitals. Now it has been able to order doses directly from the state.

Schulte said they have requested 1,950 doses of the vaccine from the state, are waiting for their first shipment to come in.

"Refrigerator space is not the issue, but rather the time-sensitivity of the vaccine itself when it is at a refrigerated temperature," Schulte said in an email. "Once we get the ultra-low temperature freezer that has the capacity to store plenty (a few thousand) doses for up to 30 days. The issue is not with space, at that point, but rather vaccine supply and allocation of doses."

It's unclear when the health department will receive the freezer or how much it will cost. Presiding Commissioner Sam Bushman said it will be funded by CARES Act funding.

"They're in such great demand right now, it's kind of like the PPE, you order it months in advance then it comes in and it's like, surprise!" Bushman said, "So hopefully very quickly."

He said the health department will likely present the latest about the freezer at the commission's meeting Tuesday.

Cole County health agencies are currently vaccinating residents eligible in the 1B phase of the state's plan.

Bushman said it's all hands on deck with the local health providers, as providers of the vaccine have been sharing doses with each other.

"We've got like a medical alliance and we are all working together for one goal and that is to take care of our citizens in Cole County," Bushman said.

Capitol Region Medical Center hasn't recieved any vaccine shipments from the state in the past two weeks, but the Director of Pharmacy Services Denny Hamilton said CCHD has provided them with some doses.

"All of us have kinda shared vaccine back and forth when others needed it and had an event planned," Hamilton said.

While Hamilton said providers in Cole County are working as fast as they can to vaccinate everyone in phase 1b, it comes down to the supply issue.

"Even at that rate with all of us doing it, it's probably going to take all summer and into the fall to get everyone vaccinated without a larger scale plan of some type," Hamilton said.

A spokeswoman for SSM Health St. Mary's Jessica Royston explained in a statement how residents should go about signing up for a vaccine.

Those who are eligible for Phase 1B should contact their primary care provider. If they do not have a primary care provider, they should contact their local health department. There is more demand than supply right now. We ask for the public to be patient as we ramp up vaccination efforts in the coming weeks.

Jessica Royston, SSM Health St. Mary's

Missourians can check their ability to get the vaccine on the state's COVID-19 Vaccination website.