Large coronavirus vaccination event planned in St. Louis

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- A large coronavirus vaccination event will be held next week in St. Louis, Gov. Mike Parson announced.

As many as 6,000 doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine will be given March 25 and 26 at St. Louis Community College at Forest Park. A third mass vaccination is planned for March 27 at Greensfelder Recreation Complex at Queeny Park.

"The additional vaccine doses ... will continue to alleviate some of the backlog that many local providers are currently facing due to the high demand for vaccines in the St. Louis area," Parson said in a statement Tuesday.

"While supply does not currently allow a vaccine for everyone who wants one and waitlists will continue, this event puts us one step closer to our goal of providing every Missourian the opportunity for a vaccine."

The gap between the number of people eligible to be vaccinated and the number of people who have actually been vaccinated is highest in St. Louis, Kansas City and the counties nearest those urban centers.

Roughly 80,800 people in St. Louis who are currently eligible for the vaccine had not been vaccinated as of Monday, according to a report from consulting firm Deloitte's health analysis platform, HealthPrism.

Another nearly 295,000 eligible residents of St. Louis County haven't been vaccinated. Combined, about a quarter of Missourians currently eligible for the vaccine live in either St. Louis or St. Louis County.

The state is also providing mass vaccinations this weekend in Kansas City.

While the biggest gaps between those eligible for vaccination and those vaccinated are in St. Louis and Kansas City, most counties with the lowest percentage of people vaccinated are rural, according to the HealthPrism report.

Jefferson County has one of the highest gaps in vaccine eligibility and vaccinations and also is among counties with the lowest percent of people vaccinated.