KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Kansas City, Missouri, will host COVID-19 vaccination events in areas with “low life expectancy” through a partnership with Walmart and the YMCA of Greater Kansas City.
Mayor Quinton Lucas announced Tuesday that more than 3,500 eligible residents will be vaccinated at the events hosted by Walmart at area YMCA locations over the next six weeks. Only those who are eligible and notified by the Health Department will know of the specific location.
"Life expectancy shouldn’t be different when you’re so close," Lucas said, "and this is us just trying to address that fundamental issue and giving everyone a fair shot."
City officials have started notifying by email and phone those who are eligible, ensuring that residents without regular internet access are not skipped.
As of Tuesday, eligible residents who live in zip codes 64127, 64128 and 64130 were being notified. There are hopes to expand the zip codes included in the events, according to a city spokesperson.
"We’ve actually done an analysis and we’ve looked at our zip codes and figured out where are our highest death rates so we are prioritizing those zip codes," Dr. Rex Archer, of the Kansas City Health Department, said. "We want to be looking at those communities that have the higher death rates and get the vaccine to them."
