Suburban health departments are not following Illinois’ plan to expand the vaccine’s eligibility from Thursday to people under 65 who have medical conditions.
Health officials in Suburban Cook, DuPage, Lake, McHenry and Will County, as well as Chicago, say the vaccine supply is too low to allow access to more people. Many essential workers and people aged 65 and over are still struggling to get the vaccine after becoming eligible a month ago.
“Due to our limited supply of vaccine, we need to make a local decision that will better serve the needs of our residents,” Lake County Health Department officials said in a statement.
Health departments have not given a specific timetable for when these medically vulnerable residents will be able to receive vaccines.
Other vaccine suppliers in these counties, such as pharmacy chains and hospital chains, are not affected by decisions by health departments.
Walgreens spokeswoman Emily Delnicki said pharmacies are following state eligibility guidelines and confirmed that people can go to stores outside their county for vaccinations.
“When individuals arrive for consultations, patients must sign a statement confirming that they meet their state’s eligibility requirements for the vaccine,” said Delnicki. “Patients also need to show a valid government ID to confirm their identity at the time of the vaccination consultation. You can choose a different store outside your county, as long as consultations and stock are available.”
The Kane County Department of Health did not respond to requests for information, but says on its website that it is supplying COVID-19 vaccines to healthcare professionals and essential professionals. The site directs people over 65 to seek vaccines at clinics, pharmacies, hospitals and doctors’ offices.
At Mount Prospect, Nancy Horton said the search for vaccine indications for her and her husband had not worked out after several weeks of trying. She hopes that postponing the vaccine’s eligibility for children under 65 will release doses for her and others in the category over 65 who have been waiting since they became eligible on January 25.
“It looks like we’re going in circles,” she said. “You look at the sites every day and get the same answer all the time. It’s totally frustrating not to get any information or anything that looks like a note of hope.”
Governor JB Pritzker announced the expansion of eligibility two weeks ago to those who have medical conditions that put them at high risk for severe cases of COVID-19, including people with cancer, kidney disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and other lung diseases, diabetes , heart problems, weakened immunity after a solid organ transplant, obesity, pregnancy and sickle cell disease.
“We do not have vaccine supplies to expand to (Phase) 1B-plus at this time,” said Will Steve Brandy County Health Department spokesman. “We hope to be able to do that soon.”
Meanwhile, state health officials announced another 43,282 vaccinations on Tuesday, as the state received an additional 50,710 doses of the vaccine. State officials said they expected 500,000 new doses by the end of the week.
So far, 1,664,128 people in Illinois have received at least one dose of the vaccine, according to the Illinois Department of Public Health records.
IDPH officials also announced an additional 27 deaths from COVID-19, as well as 1,665 new cases of the disease.
The number of deaths from the virus in the state now stands at 20,330, while 1,177,320 Illinois residents have been infected since the pandemic began.
Hospitals across the state are treating 1,488 patients with respiratory diseases. Of those hospitalized, 361 are in intensive care, according to IDPH records.