CHICAGO – The city plans to make coronavirus vaccines available to all Chicago residents by the end of May – although that is a very tentative goal, said Dr. Allison Arwady, head of the Chicago Department of Public Health, on Tuesday. .
Arwady revealed more details about the city’s vaccination campaign during a live broadcast on Tuesday morning. She said that Chicago will move to Phase 1B of its coronavirus vaccination campaign on Monday, and that the city is planning to move to Phase 1C in late March. Phase 2 – when anyone aged 16 or over can be vaccinated – would begin in late May, according to the plan.
The dates for the plan are very tentative and depend on how many doses of vaccine the city receives from the federal government, Arwady said. So far, Chicago has received only about 32,000 doses a week.
“We will ensure that when you receive a vaccine here in Chicago, it is safe, all appropriate measures are in place …” said Arwady. “A safe and efficient vaccine process is what will get us past COVID.”
People who want city updates on how and when they can be vaccinated can sign up for the Chi COVID Coach, said Arwady.
The city is currently in Phase 1A of the campaign, when health professionals are prioritized for vaccines. But the health department has allowed health professionals to give doses of vaccines to people 65 and older if those doses were missed.
During Phase 1B, scheduled to start on Monday, people aged 65 and over and essential frontline workers, such as teachers and grocery workers, may be vaccinated.
This week, the city will release more information about how people at that stage can get more information and apply to be vaccinated. Arwady said he expects these appointments to be limited and to fill up quickly.
And Arwady said the city is asking health professionals – who will be doing most of the vaccinations in the coming months – to prioritize Phase 1B and first give vaccines to people most at risk for COVID-19, as providing doses of vaccine is still low.
This phase is expected to last most of February and March.
Thereafter, during Phase 1C, other essential workers may be vaccinated, as well as people aged 16 to 64 who have underlying medical conditions that put them at risk for serious cases of COVID-19. The city plan suggests that this phase begins on March 29.
After Phase 1C, the city would move to Phase 2 – when vaccines are available to all Chicago residents aged 16 and over. The plan suggests that this would begin on May 31.
Younger children are unlikely to be vaccinated until this summer, at the very least, as experts are still researching whether vaccines are safe for children, Arwady said.
People will need to be patient because the demand for the vaccine is likely to outweigh how much is supplied to the city, Arwady said.
The general campaign is expected to take most of 2021. People who are eligible to be vaccinated during phases 1A, 1B or 1C, but who are waiting, can still be vaccinated during the later phases
Most people will be vaccinated in pharmacies, doctors’ offices and emergency care clinics, among other health facilities, said Arwady. But the city has created mass vaccination sites that are used by health professionals.
So far, Illinois has administered at least 495,563 doses of the vaccine and has allocated 1,085,750 doses. More than 100,000 doses of the vaccine have been administered to Chicagoans.
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