ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Mo. — A sign on Chrissy Kaiser's childhood home welcomes visitors, but she hasn't stepped foot through the front door in over a year.
Her dad, Charlie Hart, has a lung condition, COPD, and requires an oxygen tank, so the search for a vaccine has been frustrating.
"We look every morning. My mom and I look every morning," Kaiser said of their search. "My dad says we're a little obsessed, but that obsession comes from caring because we care. We want him to get vaccinated. We want to be able to see him."
Kaiser's mom was able to travel for a vaccine and is now fully vaccinated, but she says there are few options for people like her father.
"You see these people that are traveling two and three hours to get a vaccine. Obviously, my dad can't do that. And even if he were to have a 'good day' for the first one, who's to say that he would have a 'good day' to do the second one? So I think that's a big factor. These people, they can't travel," she said.
When St. Louis County Executive Sam Page announced a new pilot program to reach homebound residents — enlisting county firefighters to administer shots of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine — he acknowledged there are likely "several thousand individuals in St. Louis County who meet this definition."
Kaiser said she is cautiously optimistic, understanding the numbers are against her.
"Do you know how many people are on the list at the fire station? Thousands. Thousands. So how long will it take to get to people like my dad when there are thousands of people on that list?" she said.
Kaiser said she doesn't agree with the state's plan to move to the next vaccine tier on March 15 when there are so many currently-eligible residents still struggling to find vaccines.
"It was one of the things that we knew that it would be an issue," Heather Fleming, founder of the Missouri Vaccine Equity Group said.
Fleming estimates about 20-25% of posts on her Facebook group involve questions and comments about access.
The group was created out of a need to address racial disparities in vaccine access, but Fleming said they have now also set up transportation for the people who can leave their homes and are also working to get solutions to those who can't.
"I do feel like we are getting the ball rolling right now," she said of the group, which is less than two weeks old. "The second I get done with this interview, I will be checking my emails and inboxes to see the individuals who are like 'yes, we see what you are doing and we want to reach out and we want to partner with you.'"
For Kaiser, the idea of being together with her dad again makes her pause, a thought she said makes her emotional.
A mother of two, she longs to see her father listen to one son as he plays guitar and to see him sit at the table with the other, assembling Legos scattered between them.
The county plans to fully launch the program on March 18, working with referral agencies to make sure those who qualify are able to get vaccinated.
For more information about how you or a loved one can get on a registration list near you, follow our full COVID-19 vaccine registration coverage here.
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