Gov. Parson: State of Missouri hosting vaccination event at Arrowhead

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Gov. Mike Parson announced today during is weekly coronavirus update that the state is hosting a vaccination event at Arrowhead in Kansas City.

The governor said it will last March 19 and 20. On March 19, it will go from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. and continue on March 20.

Gov. Parson said, "Names of eligible Missourians will be chosen from a list of those who have previously signed up to receive the vaccine with the Jackson County Health Department."

The Jackson County Health Department currently has more than 100,000 names on its list to be vaccinated.

Gov. Parson said 6,000 people are expected to be vaccinated over two days at the Arrowhead event with the Janssen vaccine. If the state receives additional shipments of the Janssen vaccine, more doses could be allocated to the event.

The state hopes to coordinate a mega vaccination event in the St. Louis area in the coming weeks. In the meantime, two state-supported mass vaccination events have been announced in St. Louis and St. Charles counties next week. 

Dr. Randall Williams, the head of the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services, said he does not expect the Johnson and Johnson shipments to rapidly pick up until April.

Since Johnson and Johnson has partnered with Merck to produce the vaccines, Williams said he is expected a routine weekly shipment of the single shot doses throughout next month.

Last week, Parson announced the change to give part of its weekly coronavirus vaccine allocation to pharmacies to boost the number of doses reaching underserved areas.

Selected pharmacies across the state will start to get 15% of the state's dose allocation next week, Parson said. The state plans to start with 161 pharmacies in 84 counties with hard-to-reach populations.

Watch the briefing replay in the player below.

Parson also said the state will increase the number of clinics happening in the St. Louis and Kansas City areas, with two dedicated mass vaccination teams in Kansas City and three in St. Louis. The state expects a full transition by April 1.

The state will shift away starting March 22 from allocating doses based on a region's overall population. Instead, doses will be designated for the state's highway patrol regions based on the number of eligible people in an area who have not been vaccinated.

Dr. Randall Williams said last Thursday that the state will not receive any more of the new one-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine until the end of March after getting an initial shipment of 50,000 doses last week.

The state is still planning to open up the next tier of vaccinations, which includes teachers, childcare workers and grocery workers, on Monday. That adds about 550,000 Missourians to the eligibility pool.

Parson announced earlier Thursday that the state is making $21.8 million available to assist nonprofit organizations and other entities providing services to at-risk youth through the Department of Economic Development’s Neighborhood Assistance Program and Youth Opportunities Program.

COVID-19 has had a massive impact on mental health for all citizens, including children, Parson said in a news release.

Up to $8 million of NAP tax credits and $6 million of YOP tax credits will be reserved for nonprofit organizations providing critical services to at-risk youth.

The application cycle will be held from March 31 to April 22. 

Check back for more on this developing story and watch ABC 17 News at 5 and 6 p.m.