ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Mo. — Thousands of St. Louis County teachers and school staff will be able to line up and roll up their sleeves during a mass vaccination clinic scheduled for next week.
The event will take place March 23-24 at the Florissant Valley campus of St. Louis Community College. The county said as many as 2,000 vaccinations will be administered with the help of the Missouri National Guard.
Employees of all county schools, including public and private, have been given the opportunity to pre-register for the event through a separate registration process, according to a press release from the county.
“We all want students and educators safely back in their classrooms," St. Louis County Executive Sam Page said in the release. "In-person learning is the ideal setting and our children need to be in a place where they can socialize, develop interpersonal skills and share life experiences with their friends. Vaccinating our educators is a key step to returning to a traditional classroom setting.”
Appointments are required for next week's clinic; walk-ins will not be accepted. The county said there will be more vaccination clinics for educators and school staff in the coming weeks.
Educators who are in the Phase 1B-Tier 2 category as outlined by the state will be given preference for this event, but all school personnel are welcome to pre-register through their schools, the county said. The health department worked with school leaders to identify an exposure category to make sure that it further prioritizes those who are the "most regularly exposed to several other people as part of their jobs."
Teachers became eligible to receive vaccinations on March 15 when the state opened up Group 1B-Tier 3. This week, educators in St. Louis area school districts, including Saint Louis Public Schools and the Ferguson-Florissant School District have begun receiving vaccinations through other clinics. Additional St. Louis area school districts are planning vaccination events for their employees.