Update, Feb. 8: The state of Missouri has set up a vaccine navigator page to sign up into a statewide registry to get in line for a Covid-19 vaccination. Go to covidvaccine.mo.gov/navigator/

The coronavirus cruelly spread heavier doses of pain over under-served communities already suffering from inequities in health care and social opportunity.

The vaccines and their promise of recovery can’t leave these same communities behind.

Coronavirus vaccination information

To make an appointment at the LINC/Morning Star vaccination clinic, call 816-256-5003

Click on the health department jurisdictions below to see updates on Covid-19 vaccine opportunities

• State of Missouri Vaccine Navigator

  • Statewide survey to sign up for a vaccine, click here.

• Jackson County Health Department

  • Survey for people who live or work in Jackson County to sign up for a vaccine, click here.

• Kansas City Health Department

  • Survey for people who live or work in Kansas City, Mo, to sign up for a vaccine, click here.

  • To call the city to get signed up for a vaccine, dial 3-1-1

• Clay County Public Health Center

  • Survey for people who live or work in Clay County to sign up for a vaccine, click here.

Watch for updates at:

• kclinc.org/coronavirus-testing-and-screening

“We’ve seen the disproportionate impact of the virus,” said Qiana Thomason, president and CEO of the Health Forward Foundation, in a virtual town hall Tuesday. “We know where the hot spots are . . . We know the ZIP Codes. We need to make sure that the people who need that vaccine the most get it.”

Vaccines are becoming available in Missouri as the national rollout is under way and the Jackson County Health Department has created an online survey that essentially allows county residents to get in line. Anyone who lives or works in Jackson County can sign in.

The Kansas City Health Department added a survey link to sign up to get in line for the city’s vaccination supply. Sign up by phone with city services by dialing 3-1-1.

Clay County has also set up a survey link.

The state of Missouri has published a Covid-19 Vaccination Plan that is guiding local health jurisdictions on how to prioritize the distribution of the vaccines. Missouri is in Phase 1A — providing vaccines to long-term care facility residents and staff, and healthcare workers. The also has created the Stronger Together webpage for Covid information.

The surveys will help align county and city residents into the various tiers that identify who is next in line for the vaccine.

“Once the vaccine is made available for your tier,” the survey introduction says, “the Jackson County Health Department will use your information from the survey . . . to contact you with further instructions on how to schedule an appointment to receive your vaccination.”

The number of Covid-19 cases and deaths have ranged higher in communities of color and in ZIP Code areas with higher poverty rates and more prevalent health conditions like asthma and diabetes that make residents more vulnerable to the virus.

Outreach will be particularly important in these communities, Thomason said, to make sure residents can get the vaccine as soon as they qualify under the tiered system.

Phase 1B of the Missouri vaccination plan will distribute vaccines to people with health conditions that put them at high-risk, plus everyone over 65. This tier will also include first responders as well as categories of essential workers, including childcare workers, teachers, water and sewer service workers, critical manufacturing workers and food and agriculture workers.

Phase 2 will reach people in high-risk situations such as prison inmates and people who are homeless. Phase 3 will open vaccines up to the rest of the population.

By Joe Robertson/LINC Writer