Cole County Capital Mall vaccination clinic to change hours of operation

JEFFERSON CITY, MO (KMIZ)

The permanent vaccination site at Capital Mall in Jefferson City is set to change its hours of operation due to the decline in vaccine demand.

Kristi Campbell, Cole County Health Department director, says with the increase of vaccine supply throughout the county the Capital Mall clinic has seen a steady decrease in doses administered since it's opened.

"At the mall the first week we did about 1,600 vaccinations, the second week we did like 741, last week we did 346," said Campbell.

The clinic is currently open Monday through Thursday. Its current hours of operation are Monday through Wednesday 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., and Thursdays from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Anyone 16 and older can receive the Pfizer vaccine at the clinic. Appointments are encouraged, but walk-ins are accepted.

Campbell says the clinic will transition to only operating 2 days a week instead of 4.

“Our central vaccination site has also seen a decline as everyone has as the supply has increased for these next few weeks we’ll still be open Monday through Wednesdays 9 to 3:30 and Thursdays from 9 to 6. The week of May 24th we will be going down to 2 days a week just Mondays 9 to 3:30 and Thursdays 9 to 6 because of the decreasing demand and the readily available vaccine supply at other locations throughout the county," said Campbell.

As Hy-Vee now offers walk-in vaccination appointments 7 days a week, and other local providers are now offering walk-in appointments, the supply within the county has increased significantly. Campbell believes people are using other local providers to get vaccinated rather than the Capital Mall location.

During the Cole County COVID-19 briefing call Wednesday, Campbell says the clinic has not had to redistribute any extra doses leftover from clinics, as staff has been able to keep doses in storage that aren't used.

“The vaccine we have has a pretty far out expiration date so we haven’t been worried about that we just have it in extra cold storage we’re just using it at the clinic site as demand comes so we haven’t had to redistribute any yet," said Campell.

Other local vaccinators in Cole County are planning vaccination clinics to reach the more rural parts of the county. Crystal Sullivan, Chief Executive Officer of Community Health Center of Central Missouri, says it's partnered with local food banks and United Way of Central Missouri to offer mobile vaccine clinics.

“We’ll be in Russelville on May the 11th from 1:30 to 3:30 at the Trinity Lutheran Church and we’ll be in St. Martins on Wednesday May the 26th at the St. Martins Catholic Church from 4 to 6 p.m.,” said Sullivan.

Anyone 18 or older can receive the Moderna vaccine at these clinics, one must have a valid photo I.D. to get vaccinated.

The following dates are scheduled for Cole County mobile vaccine clinics:

• 1:30-3:30 p.m. May 11, Trinity Lutheran Church, 13007 Route C, Russellville
• 9-11 a.m. May 15, Capital West Christian Church, 1315 Fairgrounds Road, Jefferson City
• 4-6 p.m. May 19, Boys & Girls Club, 1105 Lafayette St., Jefferson City
• 4-6 p.m. May 26, St. Martin Catholic Church, 7148 St. Martins Ave., St. Martins

Cole County has administered 48,440 vaccine doses; of that 22,323 of the county's residents have completed the vaccination process. 29.1% of the county's population have completed the vaccination process.

As of Tuesday, the state has administered 4,009,681 vaccine doses; of that 1,802,295 Missourians have completed the vaccination process. 38% of the state's population has initiated the vaccination process.