KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Roughly one of every 16 Missouri residents — 6.5% — who have received their first COVID-19 vaccine dose are overdue to received their second dose.
Data from the Missouri Hospital Association shows 56,720 Missourians have not received their second dose within the manufacturer-prescribed window of 21 days for the Pfizer offering and 28 days for the Moderna vaccine.
Dave Dillon, the vice president of public and media relations for the Missouri Hospital Association, said the overdue percentage is half the rate of the national average and only reflects the rate for currently eligible tiers rather than the entire population.
Still, there's some cause for concern about who's overdue for a COVID-19 booster based on a chart shows a correlation between zip codes with higher poverty levels and the percentage of people overdue for second doses.
Zip codes with poverty rates between 20% and 24.9% showed that 8.4% of vaccine recipients were overdue second doses, while zip codes with poverty rates of 25% or more had a 6.8% overdue rate — both are higher than the state average.
Organizers at Morning Star Baptist Church said the issue is exactly why targeted vaccine clinics are crucial.
The church, along with the Local Investment Commission, has been serving as a targeted site with assistance from the Missouri National Guard to vaccinate people in vulnerable communities.
Local Investment Commission Community Director Janet Miles-Bartee said with second-dose clinics starting next week, organizers will be working hard to make sure everyone shows up.
"We're going to call each person and remind them of their appointment time prior to next week," Miles-Bartee said.
Danisha Clarkson helps organize the clinics and said it can be challenging for some people in underserved areas to have the resources to make appointments.
"Most people were so desperate to get an appointment, the shock of finding out when they had to come back was like, 'Oh my gosh, I've got to think about when I come back, am I going to be able to make that happen?" Clarkson said.
The single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine, which received an emergency use authorization last weekend from the FDA, could ease the situation, because it's easier to store and doesn't require a booster.
Dillon said that vaccine likely will go more toward targeted and mass vaccine clinics with the Missouri National Guard than hospitals.
Miles-Bartee said the church is slated to receive 2,000 doses this weekend, a hopeful sign for people in the area.
"Having the Johnson & Johnson (vaccine) and being able to do that in one dose is going to be fabulous," Miles-Bartee said.
