(KMOX) - Both Missouri and Illinois received bad reviews for their distribution of the first dose of COVID-19 vaccines, according to new numbers released by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Missouri is dead last in the vaccination rate as more than half of its COVID-19 shots are still sitting in the freezer.
Just 4% of Missouri's population has been given the first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, states the new report compiled by the New York Times based on the CDC's numbers released on Sunday. Illinois is No. 44 with 4.4%.
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The CDC says Missouri's only used 48% of the shots it was given.
The top states in the county in terms of vaccination rate are Alaska (10.7%), West Virginia (9.1%) and New Mexico (7.8%).
Dr. Alex Garza of the Metro Pandemic Task Force says it's difficult to schedule local vaccination events when the supply from the state has been unsteady; the city hasn't even gotten the first shipment.
"Some weeks we get a significant amount of vaccines and in other weeks we don't receive any," Garza says. "So one of the things that we really need is a consistent delivery of vaccines."
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While other states are - and have been - holding mass vaccination events at their major league stadiums, Missouri only held its first mass event last Friday, in the parking lot of a waterpark in Poplar Bluff.
Still, he says task force hospitals have vaccinated about 63% of area healthcare workers.
This Friday, the state plans several more mass vaccination events in more areas. You can learn more about that plan at COVIDvaccine.mo.gov.
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