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Friday, February 12, 2021

St. Louis County Partnering With Fire Departments to Get Vaccines to Long-Term Care Residents

Posted By Jaime Lees on Fri, Feb 12, 2021 at 10:22 AM

click to enlarge

Time to roll up more sleeves. - @MDGOVPICS / FLICKR

@mdgovpics / Flickr
Time to roll up more sleeves.

Some of our most vulnerable neighbors are finally getting the help they need thanks to a partnership between St. Louis County and Emergency Medical Services.

They’ve worked out a system in which fire district personnel will vaccinate around 1,000 residents and staff of group homes and other housing facilities that have not yet received a vaccination. Some will be vaccinated at their facilities by fire district staffers in mobile EMS units and others will be transported to a vaccination site at a firehouse.

Participating fire districts include Affton, Eureka, Mehlville, Pattonville and Richmond Heights. Vaccinations start this week.

From the St. Louis County Department of Public Health press release:

“Most residents of long-term care facilities in St. Louis County already received vaccines from their pharmacy providers under a federal program. The facilities being served in this new effort did not qualify for such assistance. Many of them house older residents with mobility challenges that might otherwise prevent them from getting vaccinated. Anyone in a congregant living situation is at higher risk of contracting COVID-19, and most of these residents have underlying conditions that make them more susceptible to complications from the disease”

After this mission has been completed, the Department of Public Health plans to “expand the partnership to administer vaccinations to home-bound residents across St. Louis County.”

The press release about the partnership is below.

St. Louis County Department of Public Health Announces EMS Partnership
Posted by The Saint Louis County Department of Public Health on Thursday, February 11, 2021

Email the author at jaime.lees@riverfronttimes.com

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Tags: St. Louis, news, St. Louis news, Missouri, seniors, nursing homes, COVID-19, vaccinations, vaccine, St. Louis County, Affton, Eureka, Mehlville, Pattonville, Richmond Heights, Image

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