COVID-19 Vaccine Information for Foster, Adoptive & Guardianship Parents

All foster, adoptive, and guardianship parents who receive subsidy are eligible to receive a COVID-19 vaccination starting Monday 3/15.

As you may have heard, getting a vaccination appointment in St. Louis can be very difficult! Below is a guide to help you.

Don’t wait to be contacted!  You should pre-register at all the websites listed below in Step One. But you may wait a long time before you’re contacted. To get an appointment fast, you REALLY have to be pro-active. If you spend some more time and follow the tips in Steps Two to Four, you could be vaccinated within a week, especially if you’re willing to drive to rural Missouri to get it!

Think about how far you’re willing to drive to get the vaccination! If you’re willing to drive 2-4 hours, you can probably get a vaccination shot this week. Understand that you’ll probably have to make 2 trips because you usually have to get your first and second shot at the same location.

Step One – Pre-register these websites:

Register on these websites and they will contact you when there is a vaccination appointment opening. HINT: Spell out “Saint” Louis, not “St.”

1. STATE OF MISSOURI NAVIGATOR- LARGE VACCINATION EVENTS: Pre-Registration: http://bit.ly/37ykNEB

2. YOUR COUNTY’S HEALTH DEPARTMENT

Call 314-657-1499 if you don’t have internet access

3. HOSPITAL SYSTEMS

4. PHARMACIES

https://www.vaccinespotter.org/MO/ ← check here first for CVS, Walmart, and Hy-Vee appointment availability.

Set up accounts at these locations and read the tips in Step Two below

Step Two – Grab a Pharmacy Appointment as Soon as They Open Up:

1. At midnight: check Walmart and Sam’s Club (a new day of appointments load every midnight)

HINTS:

a) Go to http://bit.ly/3dtU6Ve and set up your Walmart account in advance.

b) Be ready when the midnight appointments open up. Be logged into your Walmart account. Have all of your information on hand, including the name and address of your doctor. Your appointment isn’t made until you finish answering all of the online questions, so you have to type fast.

c) Start searching around 11:58pm

d) Search Walmarts farther away from St. Louis city/county. The ones in St. Louis fill up super FAST (in the first minute or so!)

e) Put in your zip code, but adjust the miles out to 50 or 100 miles. To do that, click on the 3 little lines to the right of the “Your Location” box where you type in your zip code.

f) Choose the latest date offered for an appointment, you’re trying to make the appointment for 6 days from now. The earlier dates will all be filled.

g) Select a later time for your appointment. The times earlier in the day fill up first. By the time you finish filling out your information online, earlier spots are more likely to be gone.

h) On the last screen where it shows your appointment information, make sure you scroll to the bottom of the page. There is a button you need to push to book the appointment.

i) It’s a farther drive, but the Walmarts in Columbia or Cape Girardeau often have open appointments.

2. You can also call Walmart Vaccine Support at 1-833-886-0023 and select option 2. A customer service rep will tell you about available appointments. This is the best way to get an appointment to be vaccinated at Harris Stowe (which is between downtown and Grand) if they have an upcoming event. We have conflicting information about call center hours – it is either open from 7am-11pm or from 11am-7pm.

3. https://www.vaccinespotter.org/MO/ ← check here for Walmart, CVS, and Hy-Vee appointment availability.

4. At 6am: check Walgreens (a new day of appointments load each day around 6am)

a) Currently you can only get vaccinations at the Walgreens in Illinois. Missouri residents are welcome to get their vaccination in Illinois (Walgreens gets vaccines allocated by the federal government, not the state).

b) You’ll need to have an online account set up before you can get a vaccination there. You can do that here: https://www.walgreens.com/register/regpersonalinfo?ru=%2Fyouraccount%2Fdefault.jsp

c) After you’ve made an account, it’s usually easiest to make an appointment online at http://bit.ly/2ZBdyHi

d) When they ask for your zip code, you can enter multiple zip codes separated by commas. You can copy and paste this list for St. Clair county: 62220, 62221, 62223, 62059, 62206, 62232, 62239, 62240, 62201, 62203, 62204, 62205, 62207, 62208, 62243, 62254, 62255, 62257, 62258, 62260, 62264, 62269, 62225, 62285, 62282, 62289, 62226

e) You can copy and paste this list of zip codes for Madison county: 62001, 62002, 62010, 62234, 62018, 62021, 62024, 62025, 62034, 62035, 62040, 62046, 62048, 62249, 62058, 62060, 62061, 62062, 62067, 62074, 62084, 62281, 62087, 62294, 62090, 62095, 62097

f) Some people get a server error when trying online registration. If you have that problem, you can also call an Illinois area Walgreens pharmacy and then use the automated system to see if there are available appointments at that location.

5. Daily – Check this Facebook group – http://bit.ly/3uormDB – it is full of extremely helpful people willing to give advice so you can find an appointment ASAP

6. If you’re a member of Sam’s Club, check for appointments here: www.samsclub.come/pharmacy/immunizations?imzType=covid

7. Several Medicine Shoppe locations may have appointments available or a waitlist

a) Affton – https://affton.medicineshoppe.com/covid-19-vaccine-information

b) Lake St Louis – call 636-321-1001 or fill the form here https://form.jotform.com/210074080493146

c) Chesterfield – call 314 469 7171

d) St Clair (about 50 minutes SW of Forest Park)- 636-322-1290 https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeKwFtU26aQvcQLDzRYPpnBnfL16zLXAypl0dYT2629ya-q2A/viewform?fbclid=IwAR0koe6QQN6zW0wUA1xdu9kJDIGawHn5eYp1tI6mkkrfM39na-heAKX3-cc

e) Elsberry (about 1 hour north of Florissant) – 573-898-2550 https://book-ch.appointment-plus.com/ctben182#/

f) Overland – 314-427-1818 – currently no waitlist or openings but check the website daily to see if there’s a “Book Now” button

Step Three – Other places that may have vaccination appointment openings

Step Four – If You’re Willing To Drive, Sign Up at a Mass Vaccination Event

Almost always these events are going to be 2.5-4 hours away from St. Louis, but if you’re willing to drive, the State of Missouri, with assistance from the National Guard, has many mass vaccination events every week. To sign up to attend, click here: https://covidvaccine.mo.gov/events/

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