JOHNSON COUNTY — Gov. Mike Parson announced that Phase 1B - Tier 3 of the state’s COVID-19 Vaccine Plan will be activated on March 15.
Phase 1B - Tier 3 includes “individuals that keep the essential functions of society running,” such as K-12 educators and school employees; child care providers; grocery store employees; and energy, food, agriculture and other critical infrastructure workers.
According to the State of Missouri, 9.3% of Johnson County’s population had been vaccinated as of Friday, Feb. 19.
However, Johnson County Community Health Services Community Outreach Coordinator Kerri Lewis said the county has not yet finished vaccinating residents included in Phase 1B - Tiers 1 and 2, with JCCHS still having thousands of registered residents included in these tiers who have not yet been vaccinated due to the number of vaccines being allocated to the county.
“I think we’re going to still be working through these groups well into March 15 and beyond when they open up for Tier 3,” Lewis said.
Lewis said JCCHS has been following a first-come, first-served process to scheduling vaccinations.
“Those who signed up when we started our registration process will be closer to the top of the list to get a call,” Lewis said. “If someone who falls in Tier 3 had already registered back in January, there’s that potential that they would fall into our list as one of the first ones.”
However, Lewis said JCCHS will attempt to finish vaccinating individuals in Tiers 1 and 2 before March 15.
Lewis said as more vaccines become available to the organization, they hope to host more clinics.
However, Lewis said JCCHS has not received a new shipment of prime doses (the first round of vaccination shots) from the state since late January.
Lewis said JCCHS makes an order for the vaccine every week but finds out whether or not the state is able to provide it the following week. She said their weekly requests since late January have all been rejected.
She said the state’s recent changes to allocation plans have impacted the rate and quantities at which various types of organizations receive vaccines.
Lewis said JCCHS had scheduled a clinic to take place on Feb. 3 but had to cancel it as their shipment of vaccines did not arrive. She said when the state made changes to its allocation plans, their organization was put on a holding list, which they are still on.
Lewis said as part of the changes, the state created an implementation team for each region. The state utilized the same regions used by the Missouri State Highway Patrol, putting Johnson County in Region A.
She said the state also changed how organizations received their vaccine resources, with a large number of vaccines being allocated to mass vaccination clinics in each region, which are hosted by the state and National Guard. Lewis said hundreds to thousands of people are able to be vaccinated at these clinics.
Lewis said local public health agencies (LPHA) such as JCCHS then began being allocated a smaller percentage of vaccines, which has to be divided amongst the LPHAs across the state, making it more difficult for organizations like JCCHS to receive weekly shipments.
“(The state) kind of transitioned into focusing on some of the bigger, larger vaccination clinics,” Lewis said.
Lewis said these mass vaccination sites have taken place in surrounding areas such as Henry, Jackson and Pettis counties.
Lewis said plans have not been finalized to host a mass vaccination clinic with the National Guard in Johnson County, but the organization is ready to help make it happen if the time comes.
While JCCHS has been unable to receive vaccines for several weeks, Lewis still encourages those wanting to receive the vaccine and haven’t yet registered to do so.
Those wanting to register at JCCHS to receive the vaccine can call 660-747-6121 and ask to be placed on the COVID-19 vaccination list. The caller will be asked to provide their name, age, address and phone number.
Lewis said once JCCHS is able to host its next vaccination clinic, staff members will begin calling individuals on their list who are eligible based on the state’s current rollout phase and tier to schedule a time for their vaccination.
Lewis said about 6,500 individuals are currently registered with JCCHS.
JCCHS has made adjustments to the registration process since its initial clinics. The organization initially had individuals sign up using a website link, but the organization found their new method to be more intuitive.
Lewis also recommends community members sign up for clinics with as many organizations as possible.
“The more places you register, the more of a chance you’ll get a call that you can get your vaccine,” Lewis said.
In addition to JCCHS, organizations in the county such as Western Missouri Medical Center, local pharmacies and Walmart have been able to provide COVID-19 vaccinations.
The State of Missouri also released the Missouri Vaccine Navigator, a registry tool to assist Missourians in receiving a COVID-19 vaccine.
Lewis said by visiting covidvaccine.mo.gov/navigator and clicking “Register Now,” individuals can sign up for the mass vaccination clinics hosted by the state and National Guard.
Lewis said JCCHS has been able to host three vaccination clinics so far and has made the most of the vaccines made available to them.
She said the organization ensures it only brings as many vaccines as it expects to use at each clinic to avoid wasting vaccines. JCCHS also utilizes specialized coolers at each clinic to keep the vaccines they brought at a specific temperature. If JCCHS has leftover vaccines at a clinic, they will contact people on their registration list who have not yet been scheduled to see if they are able to come and get it within a certain amount of time.
“Through due diligence and working together to make these phone calls, we want to make sure we're not wasting any doses,” Lewis said. “If we can get every single dose in an arm, we’re going to do what we can to make that happen.”
Lewis said JCCHS has only had to dispose of six doses of the vaccine so far. She said the single instance occurred when JCCHS closed its office on Feb. 16 and 17 due to dangerous road conditions caused by winter weather and during that time, a vial of the Pfizer vaccine (each vial contains five to six doses) in its refrigerator expired during that time.
Lewis said JCCHS is also working with Johnson County Ambulance District to potentially host a clinic centered on vaccinating emergency first responders who have not received their vaccines yet.
Lewis said JCCHS and Compass Health are also in the early stages of planning a collaborative vaccination clinic in the future.
“It is a joint effort to get the vaccine in as many arms as possible,” Lewis said. “We don’t care who is able to provide it or where it’s coming from. Whatever we can do to help and all work together to get these vaccines done, we’re open to do that.”
Johnson County agencies are receiving assistance from neighboring county agencies as well.
Bothwell Regional Health Center in Sedalia is a high throughput vaccinator for Region A as part of Missouri’s vaccine distribution plan. Bothwell CEO Lori Wightman said the hospital is due to receive 2,400 doses of Moderna vaccine and will transfer 1,150 doses to WMMC.
“We also have a responsibility besides getting shots in arms to look at partners in the region to see how we can work with them,” Wightman told the Sedalia Democrat. “That’s why for Warrensburg I said absolutely, we’ve got to share what we’re getting.”
Lewis said Johnson County has continued to see a downward trend in positive COVID-19 cases and reminds citizens to continue using safety precautions to continue the trend.
