Walgreens is offering coronavirus vaccines at nearly 80 new locations in Illinois, state officials announced on Thursday.
The 78 new vaccination sites bring the total number of locations in the drugstore chain offering doses of coronavirus vaccine to 170 in Illinois.
Earlier this week, the White House announced a new federal program that will bring an additional 39,300 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine each week to Walgreens locations in Illinois.
The additional doses will be distributed under a new Federal Retail Pharmacy Program, announced on Tuesday. Illinois and Chicago are two of the 15 jurisdictions in which Walgreens will offer these additional doses.
These thousands of additional doses are beyond the supply that Walgreens already receives through the Illinois Department of Public Health. Additional vaccinations through the new federal partnership will begin on February 11, according to the White House.
For a complete view of where you can get the coronavirus vaccine in Illinois or how to receive information about the vaccine in your area, click here.
In addition to the Walgreens, Illinois also announced the addition of two National Guard-led vaccination sites, bringing the total number of sites added this week to 80.
In all, 390 vaccination sites have been opened across the state since vaccinations began.
More than 3.2 million residents of the state are eligible for vaccinations in Phase 1B, which includes people aged 65 and over, as well as “essential frontline workers”.
Current vaccination sites in the state are available by appointment only, but the state plans to launch care facilities in the coming weeks, officials said earlier.
Still, despite the added sites, Illinois officials continue to ask for patience, saying the vaccine supply is limited.
“While we are working to increase the number of vaccines administered daily, we are limited by the amount of vaccine available and allocated by the federal government,” said Illinois Governor JB Pritzker’s office in a statement. “Vaccines are only available by appointment at this time and we encourage people to come back frequently to see if there are any open appointments. Until the supply is increased, there will be great demand and we ask people to be patient. Individuals must sign up for an appointment to receive the second dose while receiving the first vaccination. “