By MATT PIKE
St. Joseph Post
Two vaccines that were not previously available are now at the St. Joseph Health Department.
Clinic Supervisor Holly Hazzard says one new one is Shingrix, the shingles vaccine. Hazzard says receiving this vaccine is huge for the clinic with how many calls they receive looking for the vaccine
"And we were able to get it from the state of Missouri so it is under are 317 program which means that it's for people who do not have insurance," Hazzard tells KFEQ/St. Joseph Post.
The vaccine is available for those 55 and older or immunocompromised and uninsured, but it's not yet available to those with private insurance.
The second new vaccine is for the HPV virus. St. Joseph has had the vaccine for those under 19, now the state has provided vaccines for those 19 and older.
"It is still super beneficial to be able to get that vaccine to those individuals," Hazzard says. "So, being able to get that from the state of Missouri is huge for us because now we also have that to offer for people who are uninsured."
Hazzard says these vaccines are available not just in St. Joseph, but across the entire state.
"It has just not been something that, not even just the state, but the higher up guidance that we follow the federal regulations, it's just not been something that they've approved to be able to offer for no cost to individuals," Hazzard explains.
Hazzard says luckily this was a year that the state department of health saw the need for both these vaccines and gave them statewide approval.
Hazzard says medications are expensive and people have many hoops to jump through just to be able to get them.
"We were seeing a decline in people who were getting vaccinated because they had to pay for it out of pocket, so they try to take these steps to try to lower that gap between people who can't afford it and can and try to kind of even that out so that everybody has access to vaccinations," Hazzard says. "So, they opened it up to health departments to be able to offer for no cost to uninsured individuals."
Vaccines are available on a first come first serve basis. The St. Joseph clinic is open Monday through Friday from 8am to 11am and 1pm to 4pm.