The Cole County Community Vaccination Site opened for business Monday, and any Missouri resident interested in receiving a COVID-19 vaccination can now come to the site.
The vaccination site is a collaborative partnership between the Cole County Commission, the Cole County Health Department, Capital Region Medical Center, the Community Health Center of Central Missouri, Jefferson City Medical Group, SSM-St. Mary's Health Center and the Missouri National Guard.
"This is a beautiful culmination of the wonderful collaboration we have had since the pandemic began," said Dr. Lenora Adams, of St. Mary's Hospital. "It's a visual representation of how well this community has worked together."
The site is located in the area where Party City had been on the south side of Capital Mall between the two mall main entrances.
The site is scheduled to be open through July 30.
"We were having to reach out to other partners and change week to week on where people could get vaccinated, but now we can tell people, 'It's at the mall, and that's where you should go,'" said Dr. Randall Haight, vice president of medical affairs for Capital Region Medical Center.
Under the agreement signed by the County Commission setting up the site, Cole County will pay the parties $40 per hour per person for vaccination services. Invoices will be paid monthly. The total amount shall not exceed $150,000 unless the agreement is amended to include additional amounts.
The commission then signed a short-term lease with Capital Mall for the space; the lease is for $10,000 a month. It will be paid through federal funds the county is receiving for COVID-19 relief. There are no fees to be vaccinated.
County officials would like people to make appointments to get vaccinated at the site, which is open 9 a.m.-3:30 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays. However, Cole County Health Department Director Kristi Campbell said the site would take walk-ins as well.
"If you have an appointment, it will go quicker," she said. "But if you walk in, we'll be glad to help you get your vaccination."
To make an appointment at the site, visit covidvaccine.mo.gov/navigator/ and register through the COVID-19 Vaccine Navigator provided by the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services. If you don't have internet/computer access, you can call 1-877-435-8411 to register and schedule an appointment.
All Missouri residents are eligible for a vaccine.
"Mass vaccination sites are set up for just a day or two, and we try to push as many people through as possible," Campbell said. "By having this site available, we can allow people to come here who have not been able to get to the mass vaccination events because of their schedules. Our partners can also use this site on Fridays and Saturdays for their own clinics, if they need to."
At this time, the Pfizer vaccine will be given at the site. The vaccine is a two-dose series given three weeks apart appropriate for those 16 and older.
Health officials said it is important to note when your second dose will be scheduled. If you are unable to attend the first and second appointments, you should pick another date and time that will allow you to keep both appointments. This will help ensure you receive your second dose and reduce a waste of vaccine.
Lt. Gov. Mike Kehoe got his first vaccine shot at the site Monday.
"We encourage Missourians to give this consideration because it's easy to do," Kehoe said. "It's obviously optional, but if you live in Missouri, you should be able to find a place to get vaccinated. And what Cole County is doing here is setting the example for the rest of the state."
Reports have come out in the past few days that new variants of COVID-19 have made it into Missouri. Adams and Haight said they haven't seen anything official yet, but there probably are some of those variants in the areas St. Mary's and Capital Region serve. Despite that and the reports the current vaccines may not be as effective against these variants, both doctors said people should still get vaccinated.
"These are what we have, and they are available. So there's not really another option," Adams said. "They are the best way to protect yourself. A lot of viruses mutate; every year, the flu vaccine is modified to address what the current mutations are. We only have four months of data, and we can't claim to know how long the vaccine will remain effective after a person gets it."
"The vaccines will still prevent the majority of the COVID that is out there at this time," Haight said. "We're looking for herd immunity as soon as possible. So we would like to see as many people get vaccinated as soon possible.
"The more people we get vaccinated, the less likely COVID will be transmitted," he said. "If we see there will be more variants and the vaccine isn't as effective against them, then we'd likely see booster shots. But you still need to get the baseline shots first."