Missourians traveling across county lines in order to get the coronavirus vaccine
COLUMBIA, MO (KMIZ)
Local health departments say they have received inquiries about the coronavirus vaccine from people all across the state.
Columbia Boone County Public Health and Human Services announced Wednesday that it does not have enough vaccine doses available to vaccinate first-dose patients. The department has struggled with vaccine availability since receiving its first doses.
Sara Humm with the health department says the the department expects an even more limited supply of the vaccine since the state has changed some of its distribution plans.
Humm says the department is looking forward to MU Health Care's mass vaccination clinic Thursday and Saturday because it could allow for more Boone County residents to get vaccinated.
Other counties are also experiencing a vaccine shortage. Some of those residents have decided to travel across county lines to get vaccinated.
Last week, Pettis County and Randolph County hosted mass vaccination clinics in partnership with the Missouri National Guard. The Pettis County Health Center worked closely with the National Guard and Bothwell Regional Health Center to vaccinate more than 2,300 people. The Randolph County Health Department vaccinated more than 2,100 people during its clinic.
Randolph and Pettis County health officials said they had people from across the state get vaccinated during those clinics.
"We did have several individuals that were from surrounding counties, we even had some come from as far away as Springfield and Branson," said Sharon Whisenand, Administrator at the Randolph County Health Department.
The struggle in vaccine supply at Columbia Boone County Public Health and Human Services has caused some people who were on the waiting list to ask to be removed. Humm says many people have requested to be removed from the list because they've planned to get the vaccine elsewhere.
"Since we actually announced that we were going to be doing that standby list, we've been contacted by a lot of people asking to be taken off of the list or to amend their survey submission," said Humm.
Columbia Boone County Public Health and Human Services says it will continue to provide information to the public about nearby mass vaccination clinics.
"We've also shared information about how to sign up for MU Health Care's list as well since they will be getting much larger amount of vaccine than we will, because ultimately at the end of the day we want to make sure that people who want vaccine know how to get it," said Humm.
