Chateau Girardeau residents, staff receive first COVID-19 vaccinations

The first round of the two-shot Moderna vaccine regimen was administered Tuesday to long-term care residents of Chateau Girardeau, a continuing care retirement community at 3120 Independence St. in Cape Girardeau.

Stephanie Holland, Chateau’s media and communications director, said Walgreens employees vaccinated 93% of Chateau’s assistant-living and skilled-nursing residents, who were required to sign documentation accepting the dose.

In all, including staff, 170 people received the initial inoculation.

Walgreens informed Chateau it is the recipient of the first vaccine clinic in Cape Girardeau.

“We are adhering to the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) guidelines to vaccinate first those in Phase 1A,” Holland said.

Phase 1A is the highest priority for COVID-19 vaccination, covering health care personnel and those in the two highest levels of care.

Under the Moderna protocol, the second dose will be administered in 28 days.

Next week, senior residents in Chateau’s independent living, the lowest level of care, will be offered a vaccine dose by Broadway Pharmacy in Cape Girardeau, which will utilize the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine, requiring 21 days between doses.

Overall, there are 122 residents in Chateau’s independent living division, who either live in apartments in the facility’s main building or in single-family homes on the property.

Chateau Girardeau, which opened in 1979, reported Monday three active COVID-19 cases total among staff and seniors living in assisted living and skilled nursing — the latter a reference to the facility’s health center or nursing home.

According to Chateau’s COVID dashboard, available online, five people at the facility have died during the pandemic and 87 are reported to have recovered from the coronavirus.