Cole County health providers hopeful for Johnson & Johnson vaccine allocation

JEFFERSON CITY, MO (KMIZ)

Some Mid-Missouri health departments are hoping to be among one of those chosen to receive some of the 50,000 doses of the Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccine coming to Missouri this week.

The FDA approved the Johnson & Johnson vaccine Saturday. The state's Department of Health and Senior Services says it plans to receive a shipment of 50,000 doses.

This vaccine only requires one dose to be effective and does not require ultra-cold storage like other coronavirus vaccines. Kristi Campbell, director of the Cole County Health Department, said the new shot could help to get people vaccinated in a short amount of time.

Campbell said the health department has not received any information from the state about whether it will receive doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. She's hopeful that the department or local hospitals will receive doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

“We have not been given any directions from the Department of Health and Senior Services about the Johnson & Johnson vaccine or if our weekly allocations will change," Campbell said. "At this time we are still getting 800 doses to share with the 13 Region F counties, and we haven’t been provided any guidance if that number is going to change at this time, as of yet."

SSM St. Mary's in Audrain received 1,000 doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine Tuesday. The hospital says it plans to work in collaboration with the Cole County Health Department, Capital Region Medical Center, and other local health organizations that are apart of Region F. SSM plans to administer all 1,000 doses within 10 days with the help of health care partners.

Capital Region Medical Center does not plan to receive the Johnson & Johnson vaccine during this period. The hospital said during a phone call Tuesday morning, the state said it plans to only send the doses to select hospitals as it doesn't plan to receive another shipment until next month. CRMC plans to continue vaccinating those eligible with the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines.

Gov. Mike Parson's office said in a news release Monday that 35,000 of the Johnson & Johnson doses will go to medical providers that did not receive doses this week. The state did not release a list of providers.

Boone Hospital Center is receiving 1,000 doses of the new single-shot vaccine.

The Cole County Health Department meets twice a week with its local health care partners, Capital Region Medical Center, SSM St. Mary's Hospital, Jefferson City Medical Group and the Community Health Center of Central Missouri. Vaccine supply, distribution and vaccine clinics are all topics discussed at each meeting. Campbell said the collaborative efforts between each health care organization have been effective in ensuring the local population receives the vaccine.

Campbell said the Johnson & Johnson vaccine would allow the department to perform more vaccinations. If vaccine supply were not an issue, Campbell says the department alone could easily give more than 200 shots a day.

“Lately we’ve been only getting 100 doses a week so we have been maximizing those on Thursdays and doing second doses too, but if we are at full capacity and we have enough vaccine we could do about 280 in a day, but we have not had that robust of a supply in weeks. We could do more if we had more vaccine," Campbell said.

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