ST. LOUIS — The first doses of Pfizer's coronavirus vaccine began shipping out across the nation on Sunday, and they'll be rolling out to St. Louis-area hospitals in the coming days.
Mercy received its first shipment Monday morning. That afternoon, it will administer perhaps the first vaccinations in the St. Louis area. Frontline staff in prioritized groups will be the first to be vaccinated.
Some of the hospital system's highest-risk employees will be the first to receive the vaccine at Mercy Hospital South at 2:30 p.m. The first vaccination at Mercy Hospital St. Louis is scheduled for 3 p.m.
Here's when other area hospitals expect to receive the vaccines:
SSM Health hospitals expect to receive shipments at some point next week, but officials did not have an exact date.
St. Luke's Hospital is set to receive its first limited allotment of vaccines next week, but did not have an exact date. It will immediately start administering it to eligible employees.
BJC HealthCare will receive its first shipment early this week, but it doesn't have an exact date. It said it will receive nearly 10,000 doses, but the healthcare provider has well over 10,000 staff members who need the vaccine. The next step for BJC is determining which staff members get the first doses.
"The priority at this point is to give that to healthcare workers and by healthcare workers we mean anyone who works in the healthcare setting that has exposure to patients," Dunagan said.
5 On Your Side will update this story as hospitals provide more information on when they will receive vaccines and how they plan to roll them out.