Health care providers can start giving coronavirus vaccines to people over 65 who live or work in Chicago starting on Monday in an upcoming modified phase of the city’s vaccination plan.
Chicago Department of Public Health commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady announced the move last week alongside Mayor Lori Lightfoot at a news conference at a new mass vaccination site.
Hospitals and outpatient units registered as providers of the COVID-19 vaccine are instructed to continue to prioritize health professionals, especially non-hospital health professionals in Phase 1A, according to the city’s updated vaccination plan.
But as of Monday, if providers have doses of the vaccine available and do not have health professionals scheduled for vaccination, they can move on to a new Phase 1B that allows people over 65 to receive the vaccine.
Priority will be given to those over 75 or those over 65 who have significant underlying conditions, said Arwady.
Authorities also announced last week that the city will open six more mass vaccination dispensing points (PODs), but noted that these locations will continue to focus only on Phase 1A health professionals, by appointment only.
Arwady noted that those who qualify, that is, those over 65, for vaccines in this next modified phase do not need to register anywhere, and that health care providers will be the first to administer the vaccines.
“I don’t want to give people the impression that they can sign up for a consultation just yet,” said Arwady, but added that this option would be available “very soon”.
While the move is not the full Phase 1B initially planned for the city, it comes in the wake of a request by federal officials that this week asked states to vaccinate people 65 and older and those under 65 with health problems that put them at high risk.
Illinois Governor JB Pritzker also announced last week that the state will begin its next phase of vaccination, also known as Phase 1B, on January 25.
Phase 1B will focus on residents aged 65 and over and “essential frontline workers”, including first responders, educators such as teachers and support staff, child care workers, grocery workers, postal workers and more.
Phase 1B will include about 3.2 million Illinois residents, according to the state.
Here is a look at who will be included in Phase 1B:
- Residents aged 65 and over
- Essential frontline workers, meaning “residents who are at increased risk of exposure to COVID-19 because of their work obligations, often because they cannot work from home and / or must work close to other people without power distance yourself socially. This includes:
- First responders: Firefighters, police, 911 workers, security personnel, school officials
- Education: Teachers, principals, student support, student assistants, day care worker
- Food and Agriculture: Processing, plants, veterinary health, livestock services, animal care
- Manufacture: Industrial production of goods for distribution to retail, wholesale or other manufacturers
- Correctional and prison staff: Prison officers, youth institution workers, personal support workers, inmates
- USPS workers
- Public transport workers: Flight crew, bus drivers, train drivers, taxi drivers, para-transit drivers, personal support, ride sharing services
- Grocery workers: Baggers, cashiers, stockers, pickup, customer service
- Shelter and daycare staff: Homeless shelter, women’s shelter, adult day / drop-in program, sheltered workshop, psychosocial rehabilitation
Pritzker said on Friday that starting this week, the state will maintain “hundreds of vaccination sites across the state, including drugstore chains, Illinois National Guard mobile teams, state-run mass vaccination sites in the north, central and southern Illinois, hospitals and urgent care locations, and finally, doctors’ offices and large employers who can host their own work clinics “
The Illinois National Guard will be activated to assist local health departments in expanding vaccination clinics, said Pritzker, with the first two teams being dispatched to Cook County Health Department locations.
Beginning January 25, National Guard-led sites will begin vaccinating residents eligible for Phase 1B, as well as CVS, Jewel Osco and Walgreens sites, Pritzker said.
All of these vaccination sites will be by appointment only, said Pritzker, asking residents not to line up at the store or call local pharmacies. He said that before the start of Phase 1B, the state will launch the Illinois COVID-19 Vaccination Administration Plan website to provide residents with information on how to find a nearby vaccination site and how to make an appointment.