ST. CHARLES COUNTY, Mo. — St. Charles County has crossed the 10,000-doses mark. The county's Director of Public Health Demetri Cianci-Chapman told 5 On Your Side that 10,366 COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered. He said the St. Charles County Department of Public Health has about 600 more doses to distribute.
"There is much more demand for vaccine than there is availability of vaccine," Cianci-Chapman told 5 On Your Side.
The desire to get vaccinated to protect against COVID-19 is so great, it seems to be spilling over from other areas. The public health director said there are about 65,000 "unique" St. Charles County residents and that more than 120,000 people have signed up for a vaccine on their health department's registry.
Governor Mike Parson announced Thursday that Phase 1B-Tier 3 will open for vaccines on Monday, March 15.
With an abundance of people wanting a vaccine in St. Charles County, will vaccinators be ready for that third group? Cianci-Chapman said as long as the vaccine continues to be delivered to St. Charles County, they will be ready.
"I am hopeful that the flow of vaccine will be sufficient by the middle of next month," Cianci-Chapman said.
He and other public health directors are crossing their fingers for a swift rollout of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, once approved and available. Cianci-Chapman said the new vaccine would "drastically change the flow of vaccine to all communities in the country. We are eagerly anticipating that."
He recommended people register for a vaccine wherever they can, through their health departments, doctors offices and through the Missouri COVID-19 Vaccinate Navigator.
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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