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Missouri moves to the next vaccine tier Monday but access issues continue

After weeks of waiting, Mike Kunst got an email from the state offering an appointment. But the list of locations didn't include a single event in Region C.

ST. LOUIS — Over 65, Mike Kunst is eligible for the vaccine. He's signed up on several local and state registries and then waited for an email telling him it was his turn. When he finally got that email, the state sent him a list but there were no locations in our area, Region C.

"They're all over the place," he said. "But none of them are Region C, which is where I live in far west St. Louis County. I'm not driving to the Missouri-Iowa border or the Missouri-Arkansas border or Missouri-Oklahoma border because that's basically where all the locations were."

Kunst found his own appointment in Cuba, calling the current system "every man for himself."

Now the Pfizer retiree has the first dose from Pfizer. He's set to go back on March 23, but others have found the two-step process to be more problematic.

One person told 5 On Your Side his booster clinic down in Cape Girardeau was canceled during the February snowstorm and he couldn't change his own schedule quickly enough for the make-up date.

Another man got an end-of-the-day dose that would have otherwise gone to waste. 

"Because I lucked into my first one, the second one was really a challenge," he told 5 On Your Side.

But because he wasn't in an eligible tier, staff said the man — who didn't want to be identified — he couldn't give him a second appointment. When he did find a clinic willing to give him an appointment, he drove across-state only to be turned down again.

"I drove 2 1/2 hours away after receiving a legitimate appointment to find out that I couldn't get the second dose," he said.

Patients report feeling pressure to get doses within the 21- to 28-day timeline initially approved by the FDA. But the CDC now says there is more leeway, and efficacy rates are not greatly diminished by a slightly longer timeframe between shots.

Missouri moves to the next vaccination tier on March 15.

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