CDC: Missouri has nation’s lowest state COVID-19 vaccination rate

(The Center Square) — About 3 percent of Missouri’s 6.1 million residents, about 205,000 people, had received first COVID-19 vaccine shots by Sunday – the worst state vaccination rate in the nation, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control & Prevention.

Conversely, Missouri’s Department of Health & Senior Services’ (DHSS) reports that about 7 percent of the state’s population, more than 450,000 people, have been diagnosed with the disease since it emerged nearly a year ago.

While ranking last in percentage of residents receiving first inoculations, Missouri leads the nation in the percentage of people completing the two-shot regimen with 1.2 percent receiving both doses, CDC reported.

By comparison, Illinois ranks 45th with 4.4 percent of its population receiving first doses, according to the CDC. Alaska, administering initial shots to 10.7 percent of residents, led the country. Nationally, 5.6 percent of the nation’s population had received first vaccination shots, CDC said Sunday.

According to Missouri’s DHSS COVID-19 dashboard, more than 450,000 coronavirus cases have been reported statewide since the first case was reported in Missouri last March, with 6,548 Missourians dead from the disease through Sunday.

Missouri added 2,137 new COVID-19 cases Sunday, the DHSS reports. The state’s seven-day rolling average of new cases Monday was 1,376, down from 1,712 cases per day on Sunday, and down from 2,031 per day a week ago, according to calculations by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

For Missouri to achieve “herd immunity,” public health officials say between 70-to-85 percent of the state’s population must be inoculated. That means between 4.3 million and 5.2 million Missourians must be immunized.

Potentially blunting the severity of the outbreak before “herd immunity” can be achieved – public health experts project no sooner than July – is that the 446,000 people who have tested positive for COVID-19 over the course of the pandemic (officials estimate the number is at least twice as high) have developed antibodies that provide at least temporary protection.

In mid-December, Missouri began to distribute COVID-19 vaccinations to hospital workers and nursing home staff and residents under Phase 1A.

Earlier in January, Gov. Mike Parson announced the state would begin Phase 1B vaccinations for almost 3 million public health employees, first responders, emergency service workers, then residents 65 and older, or with certain health conditions.

Last week, noting more vaccines are becoming available, Parson vowed to accelerate the pace of vaccinations, expanding eligibility to anyone over 65 and activating the National Guard to help staff mass vaccination centers statewide.

Of 526,425 COVID-19 vaccination doses distributed to the state in mid-January, only 161,784 had been administered, Parson said in expanding eligibility to all seniors over 65.

Missouri’s slow vaccination effort came under fire last week from the St. Louis Metropolitan Pandemic Task Force (MPTF) among others, warning even if the vaccination rate tripled, it’s not clear that enough Missourians will be inoculated to markedly slow the pandemic by July when it is hoped the economy could begin to more fully reopen, filling restaurants, shops and offices.

In addition to dealing with the logistics of intermittent supply, public health experts must also contend with demand tempered by public misperceptions.

In a recent poll of 800 Missourians, 23 percent said they would “definitely not” get the COVID-19 vaccine, an indication state officials must step up messaging that vaccines are safe and effective.

“Broad vaccination is the key to response and recovery in Missouri,” Missouri Hospital Association (MHA) President/CEO Herb Kuhn said. “Although the vaccine is not available to the public currently, it will be essential to have an informed, confident and energized public as we move into the widespread distribution phase of vaccination efforts.”

Disclaimer: This content is distributed by The Center Square