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St. Louis area seniors 'tired of waiting for vaccine'

"It's just so frustrating. I've signed up on six different websites and I still haven't gotten the shot," said Pastor Antonio Settles

ST. LOUIS — The Reverend Antonio Settles is the pastor of Union Memorial United Methodist Church in north St. Louis. 

He's 66 years old, works out three times a week and he oversees a congregation of 400 members.

"I would say my health is a 10. I'm doing very well, " said Settles.

He said in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, he's striving to stay as healthy as possible and that's why he wants the COVID-19 vaccine.

"I signed up with six different organizations," Settles said.

Nearly a month later, he and many of his older congregants, who live in the city and county, are still waiting to roll up their sleeves and get the shot.

"That is very frustrating for all of us," he said.

RELATED: Here's how you can get in line for the COVID-19 vaccine

"There's just a lot of pinned up frustration and anxiety for waiting. I'm confident that we will get at least 3,000 doses a week," said St. Louis County Executive Sam Page on Friday.

This week, he said the county prepared for possibly "pausing scheduled vaccinations due to lack of supply from the state."

"There really isn't enough vaccine to meet the demand. We're going to work through this as fast as we can," added Page.

On Friday, the St. Louis County Department of Public Health announced it is partnering with area fire districts and the St. Louis County Police Department Office of Emergency Management "to administer COVID-19 vaccine to about 1,000 residents and staff in group homes and other housing facilities that have not yet received vaccinations."

"I understand this is a large amount of people that's looking for the shot. I don't think that they had the best planning going on," said Settles.

"I absolutely understand the seniors' frustration," said Lewis Reed, president of the St. Louis Board of Aldermen.

Reed thinks when it comes to seniors and others, the city should have more control of its vaccine rollouts.

"I think the state should distribute our doses to us locally so that we can manage our own timelines and really work directly with the population of people who live here in the city, so that they can have access to the vaccine in a timely fashion," said Reed.

Next week, Missouri is expected to receive 90,000 doses of the vaccine. Region C, which includes St. Louis County and 12 other counties, will receive just over 30,000 of those doses and will spread them throughout the region, the St. Louis Pandemic Task Force said.

Meanwhile, Pastor Settles keeps praying.

"We keep hope alive. I'm hoping to get it real soon," he said.

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