These Missouri VA Hospitals On List To Get COVID-19 Vaccine First, VA Says

By Kelly Fisher

December 11, 2020

Dozens of VA sites will be among the first nationwide to receive initial doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, and two sites in Missouri made the list.

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs announced preliminary plans to distribute the COVID-19 vaccine in a press release Thursday (December 10), pending FDA approval. The VA plans to provide vaccinations to veterans and frontline health care workers in the long-term care units at the 37 sites first.

“VA is well prepared and positioned to begin COVID-19 vaccinations,” VA Secretary Robert Wilkie said in the release. “Our ultimate goal is to offer it to all Veterans and employees who want to be vaccinated.”

These two Missouri sites are among the 37 on the list to receive vaccines first:

Harry S. Truman Memorial Veterans' Hospital, in Columbia
St. Louis VA Health Care System, in St. Louis

The sites were picked because they can “vaccinate large numbers of people and store the vaccines at extremely cold temperatures,” according to the VA.

Missouri has tracked 20,770 new cases between December 2 and December 8. The state is at an 18.7% positivity rate, data show.

Here’s the full list of the 37 VA sites:

Birmingham (AL) VA Health Care System
Phoenix (AZ) VA Health Care System
Greater Los Angeles (CA) VA Health Care System
Palo Alto (CA) VA Health Care System
Eastern Colorado (CO) VA Health Care System
Connecticut (West Haven Campus) VA Health Care System
Washington DC VA Health Care System
Orlando (FL) VA Health Care System
Augusta (GA) VA Health Care System
Edward J. Hines Jr. VA Hospital (IL)
Lexington (KY) VA Health Care System
Southeast Louisiana (New Orleans) VA Health Care System
Maryland (Baltimore) VA Health Care System
Bedford (MA) VA Health Care System
Ann Arbor (MI) VA Health Care System
Minneapolis (MN) VA Health Care System
Harry S Truman Memorial Veterans Hospital (Columbia MO)
St. Louis (MO) VA Health Care System
Omaha (NE) VA Health Care System
Southern Nevada (North Las Vegas) VA Health Care System
Raymond G. Murphy (NM) VA Health Care System
New York Harbor (Brooklyn) VA Health Care System
Western New York (Buffalo) VA Health Care System
Durham (NC) VA Health Care System
Cleveland (OH) VA Health Care System
Oklahoma City (OK) VA Health Care System
Portland (OR) VA Health Care System
Corporal Michael J. Crescenz VA Medical Center (Philadelphia PA)
Pittsburgh (PA) VA Health Care System
Caribbean (Puerto Rico) VA Health Care System
Memphis (TN) VA Health Care System
Dallas (TX) VA Medical Center
Michael E. DeBakey VA Health Care System (Houston TX)
Audie L. Murphy VA Hospital (San Antonio TX)
Richmond (VA) VA Health Care System
Puget Sound (WA) VA Health Care System
Milwaukee (WI) VA Health Care System

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