Illinois received more than 4 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine and administered more than 3 million injections, authorities reported on Thursday, when the record was opened for mass clinics in Des Plaines and the United Center in Chicago amid to the high demand of anxious elderly people.
On Wednesday, 93,302 more people received injections of COVID-19, the Illinois Department of Public Health reported.
The seven-day vaccination average is now 78,942.
The United Center website, a federal facility open to all Illinois residents, is accepting people aged 65 and over exclusively for vaccinations until 4pm on Sunday.
When consultations started online at 8:30 am on Thursday, there was a huge rush of people trying to register, said Chicago Department of Public Health commissioner Alison Arwady, noting that technical problems were resolved in 30 minutes.
“It is a sign of how much demand there is,” she said in an online question and answer session.
All drive-through appointments have been scheduled for the current three-week schedule, but direct consultations have remained open, said Arwady.
Applications can be made online at zocdoc.com/vaccine or by calling (312) 746-4835.
A major website in Des Plaines that will offer Johnson & Johnson’s single dose vaccine opens its doors on Friday. Appointments are mandatory and can be made at vaccine.cookcountyil.gov or by calling (833) 308-1988, although that number was busy when the Daily Herald checked.
The Des Plaines mass clinic is expected to process up to 3,500 vaccines per day, while the United Center unit is expected to provide 6,000.
Among those who were successful at the United Center was Charlie Sikaras, 67, of Warrenville.
“This morning, I was able to arrange a meeting for March 15,” he said. “The nomination process was very simple and I was able to print a ticket along with instructions and frequently asked questions.”
Sikaras had signed up on the vaccination website for the DuPage County Health Department, but was unsuccessful in getting an appointment.
DuPage leads the suburbs of Cook, Chicago and collar counties as a percentage of people fully vaccinated with 7.42%, but officials said they are hampered by not receiving enough doses.
The federal government has delivered 4,007,475 doses of the vaccine to Illinois since distribution began in mid-December. IDPH reported that 2,993,543 shots have been put into arms so far, but Governor JB Pritzker updated that information at a news conference on Thursday in Centerville.
“We administer more than 3 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines that save lives for our residents in Illinois,” said Pritzker.
So far, 952,141 people – 7.47% of the state’s population – have been fully vaccinated. Vaccines manufactured by Pfizer Inc. and Moderna Inc. require two doses several weeks apart.
Meanwhile, Illinois has risen in the US ranking by getting shots per capita. The state is 35th out of 50 for vaccine administration, with 23,851 per 100,000 people, according to data from the U.S. Center for Disease Control on Thursday. In early February, Illinois was ranked 44th.
But the state remains among the last 10 states to receive doses from the federal government, remaining in 41st position, with 30,979 doses per 100,000 people delivered. In early February, Illinois was 42 years old.
IDPH announced this week that it was expanding a program to offer vaccines to health centers and hospitals qualified by the federal government to help underserved communities. “We have to make sure that we are getting vaccines for blacks and browns, who often do not receive health care that should be their rights,” said Pritzker on Thursday.
Next week, the state will begin allocating 300 to 500 doses of vaccine per week to locations including the Chicago Behavioral Hospital in Des Plaines, the Amita Health Adventist Medical Center GlenOaks in Glendale Heights and the FQHC of the Lake County Health Department in Waukegan.
Vladimir Radivojevic, vice president of GlenOaks’ Amita Health Adventist Medical Center, said the details were still being worked out, but the hospital was “excited about partnering with the state to bring the vaccine to our community.”
Vaccines would be opened first to eligible patients, then to qualified people in the community.
“This initiative is very good, as it provides additional vaccine above and beyond our normal amounts of vaccine that reach Lake County,” said Department of Health Executive Director Mark Pfister.
In addition, Illinois reported 1,740 new cases and an additional 42 deaths from respiratory disease.
Illinois hospitals were treating 1,200 patients with COVID-19 on Wednesday night.
The average rate of positivity in seven days in the state is 2.4%.
The total number of cases across the state is 1,193,260, and 20,668 Illinois residents have died since the pandemic began.
Laboratories have processed 73,990 virus tests in the past 24 hours.