ST. LOUIS — St. Louis County Executive Sam Page announced the first mass vaccination clinic in the county during his Wednesday briefing.
The clinic will be at the Florissant Valley campus of St. Louis Community College, where Wednesday's press conference was held. Page did not provide a specific time for the center to begin administering vaccinations but said he hopes to begin sometime next week.
The location will not be a drive-thru distribution center, and residents will need to make an appointment. Residents can sign up to be vaccinated by visiting stlcorona.com and following the link for registration. They may also email dphcovidvaccine@stlouisco.com to receive the same link. Once registered, a "thank you message" will appear on your screen, confirming the county has your information.
For people who are not able to sign up online, the county's health department has partnered with the Older Residents program to offer a hotline to assist in sign-ups. People without email or internet access can call 314-615-2660, and someone with the county will return their call and help them get signed up for a vaccine appointment.
Page also said the county is working on more mass vaccination locations and partnerships to help arrange for transportation to the centers for people who may not be able to otherwise get there.
Page said he hopes to get through several hundred vaccinations per day at the site as long as the vaccine supply can keep up. He said the county is working closely with the state to secure vaccine doses.
Page was joined by Jeff Pittman, chancellor of St. Louis Community College, and Ferguson Mayor Ella Jones at the Wednesday morning briefing.
Pittman said the St. Louis Community College system is working to find a way for nursing and allied health students to assist in the vaccination process. He also said other campuses will be made available to the St. Louis County Health Department when more vaccination sites are needed.
"They are eager," STLCC Director of Nursing Karen Mays said of the possibility of allowing nursing students to participate in the vaccinations. "Their thoughts have just been thoughts of exuberance. They previously have participated in flu vaccine clinics over many, many years. And so this being a hopefully once in a lifetime experience, they really want to be part of this. "
The system has more than 530 nursing students across all campuses.
Mays says STLCC has seen increased interest in all of their medical programs, and they have the resources to help, should they get the go-ahead.
Page said they have more than 320,000 people pre-registered for the coronavirus vaccine. That's about a third of the county's total population, though some applicants live outside the county.
But a ZIP code breakdown shows the areas with the lowest number of signups are some of the same areas hit first — and hardest — during the pandemic.
Page said the county has hired a new director of health promotion, Damon Broadus, who comes from the American Heart Association. And county leaders will now try to find partners that will help them reach key demographics.
More vaccine coverage: