Congresswoman Cori Bush Instrumental in Securing FEMA’s Eight Week Effort to Expand Vaccinations in St. Louis Area
ST. LOUIS, MO – Today, Congresswoman Cori Bush (MO-01) released a statement following the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)’s announcement of a new 8-week vaccination program that will launch on April 7 and vaccinate up to 3,000 people a day in St. Louis City.
“After weeks of inaction at the state level to address vaccine deserts in St. Louis that were leaving predominantly Black and brown communities without access to the COVID-19 vaccine, I am grateful our work on the American Rescue Plan will bring 168,000 additional vaccine doses to the City of St. Louis,” said Congresswoman Cori Bush. “I pushed the Governor’s office for weeks for a vaccine equity strategy to address the fact that St. Louis lagged 7% behind the rest of the state in vaccination rate. As our requests for a vaccine equity strategy remained unanswered, I continued to be in constant communication with the White House and our partners at the state and local level to ensure St. Louis would receive the doses we have long needed to save lives.
“Our work is to ensure our entire St. Louis area not only has equitable access to the COVID-19 vaccine but all of the economic resources we need to survive this pandemic. This new FEMA program, along with the $500 million we secured for the City of St. Louis and the $26 million secured for St. Louis area community health centers through the American Rescue Plan, will ensure our community has the vaccine doses and economic support we have so desperately need. With vaccine eligibility now expanded to our unhoused community members in Missouri, I will continue to work with St. Louis City leaders and community partners to ensure we can get shots into arms as equitably as possible.”
The doses administered at this federally supported community vaccination clinic will be in addition to Missouri’s approximately 200,000 initial doses distributed weekly to nearly 1,050 state-approved vaccine providers. The type of vaccines administered at the Dome may vary from week to week depending on vaccine availability.
The Missouri National Guard, Department of Health and Senior Services, and State Emergency Management Agency will partner with FEMA, the U.S. Department of Defense, and the City of St. Louis to host this eight-week FEMA mass vaccination clinic.
The clinic will operate from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. seven days a week. Eligible residents will be identified through the state’s Vaccine Navigator. Eligible Missourians can register online or by calling the state’s COVID-19 hotline at (877) 435-8411.
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Congresswoman Cori Bush represents Missouri’s First Congressional District in the United States House of Representatives. She serves on the House Judiciary Committee and the House Committee on Oversight and Reform. She is also a Deputy Whip of the Congressional Progressive Caucus and a proud member of the Congressional Black Caucus. She is a registered nurse, single mother, and an ordained pastor. Following the murder of Michael Brown Jr. by a now-terminated Ferguson police officer, she became a civil rights activist and community organizer fighting for justice for Black lives on the streets of Missouri and across the country.