Health & Fitness

St. Louis COVID Vaccinations Could Start Dec. 17, BJC Emails Say

Washington University and Barnes Jewish West County Hospital in Creve Coeur, Missouri, are named as possible vaccination sites.

Barnes Jewish Hospital in St. Louis.
Barnes Jewish Hospital in St. Louis. (J. Ryne Danielson/Patch)

ST. LOUIS, MO — Vaccinations for the coronavirus could begin in St. Louis in a little over two weeks, according to emails sent to BJC Healthcare employees. The emails ask for qualified volunteers to give vaccination injections, and say the first clinics could start Dec. 17.

The health care provider anticipates having thousands of doses of the vaccine by mid-December, one email states, and employee vaccination clinics are planned for Dec. 17 to Dec. 30.

The Post-Dispatch reports state health officials hope to receive about 51,000 doses of Pfizer's coronavirus vaccine and 105,000 doses of Moderna's within days of their approval by the Food and Drug Administration. The FDA's committee on vaccines will meet to consider emergency use authorization for Pfizer's vaccine on Dec. 10 — just enough time for it to double-check the drug company's data, the agency said. Pfizer's vaccine was just approved in the United Kingdom, and Cambridge-based Moderna's vaccine is hot on its heels. If approved in the United States, Pfizer said it hopes to have 40 million doses of the vaccine to Americans by the end of the year.

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Pfizer's vaccine requires special refrigeration that is not widely available. That requirement complicates the vaccine's distribution, and health officials are still working out how to get it as quickly as possible to the state's 6 million residents.

Officials have said St. Louis will likely receive mostly Pfizer's vaccine since the city is better equipped for its refrigeration requirements. Rural areas of the state will most likely get Moderna's more stable vaccine, which doesn't need to be kept as cold.

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Both are close to 95 percent effective, the drugmakers say.

Dr. Randall Williams, director of the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services, told the Post-Dispatch that the state has selected 10 sites capable of keeping the vaccine at minus 94 degrees Fahrenheit — colder than Antarctica — and will begin vaccinating health care workers first as soon as the vaccine is approved.

The location of the vaccination sites isn't clear, but BJC volunteers are being directed to either the Washington University campus or the Barnes Jewish West County Hospital in Creve Coeur, Missouri, as possible locations.

"We are aware of news reports that suggest a vaccine could receive emergency use authorization before the end of the year," Jackie Ferman, BJC's director of media and public relations, told Patch in an email. "We are ready to receive the first shipment and to begin distributing to health care workers right away. We expect to learn more very soon about how many initial doses we will receive and how those doses will be prioritized."

According to documents obtained by CNN, Pfizer's vaccine will be available to health care facilities starting Dec. 15, while Moderna's is expected to ship about a week later.


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