Illinois health officials announced on Friday the launch of a state-of-the-art coronavirus vaccination appointment supplement on their website, which is expected to provide more effective doses.
“As we increase the ability to make the vaccine widely available, we will launch a state website to provide more information so that you can make an appointment to get vaccinated,” Illinois Governor JB Pritzker said at a news conference.
Illinois residents can now access the state’s coronavirus website, which provides the vaccination plan, the Restore Illinois plan and pandemic information. Once consultations are available, residents can access a link that takes them to their local health care provider to coordinate when and where to receive the vaccine.
Pritzker added that some pharmacies, such as Walgreens, already have a live online consultation website, and others are expected to appear soon.
“Although it is difficult to get appointments for some time, schedules will become more and more available as our state receives an increasing number of doses,” he said.
Pritzker announced last week that the state will begin its next vaccination phase, also known as Phase 1B, on January 25. Phase 1B will include about 3.2 million Illinois residents, according to the state.
Phase 1B includes anyone over 65 years of age, as well as essential frontline workers who have been prioritized, such as first responders, people working in correctional facilities, supermarket workers, daycare workers, people working in manufacturing, educators and others in school settings, public transport employees, postal workers and others.
Pritzker said last week that the state will maintain “hundreds of vaccination sites across the state, including pharmacy retail chains, Illinois National Guard mobile teams, state-administered mass vaccination sites in the north, center and south of Illinois, hospitals and urgent care locations, and finally, doctors’ offices and large employers who can host their own work clinics “
The Illinois National Guard has also been 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, but use the site as soon as it is available.
Chicago is preparing to enter the next round of vaccination along with the rest of Illinois on Monday, opening doses for frontline workers and people over 65.
But the city’s top doctor warned on Thursday that consultations for those who qualify will be “very limited”, asking for patience, as she said that most people who qualify for vaccination in this next phase will likely have to wait ” a few weeks”.
Chicago Department of Public Health commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady said the city is not receiving “nearly enough” doses from the federal government to vaccinate all eligible – a trend that has been occurring across the country since the beginning shipments last month.
“Let me point out that we don’t have enough vaccine to vaccinate anywhere near the number of people who will want to be vaccinated starting on Monday,” said Arwady. “I am thrilled that there is so much demand here. We are not wasting vaccine, we are not wasting vaccine in Chicago in one day, we are not wasting vaccine going forward.”
But she noted that Chicago has more than 360,000 residents over 65 and over 300,000 people who are employed in some of the sectors eligible to be vaccinated in Phase 1B.
Arwady said on Thursday that there are four ways that residents can be vaccinated against COVID-19: through their medical system or health care provider, through pharmacies, through a dedicated vaccination site such as dispensing points or through through your employer.
Arwady said the first way, through residents’ individual medical systems, is how most people will be vaccinated. This includes primary care doctors, federally qualified health centers, hospitals and other care systems, she said, noting that many of these systems were already reaching “some of their most vulnerable patients” to make appointments.
Arwady said of the duplicate, through pharmacies, that the city registered more than 100 pharmacies in Chicago and would share more information on Monday on how to sign up for an appointment in this way.
The third way will be through mass vaccination sites, like Chicago’s “POD” sites, Arwady said. The city launched six of the PODs at City Colleges locations, which she noted were still for health professionals, not for the general public, and by appointment only.
Arwady said the fourth way that Chicago residents can be vaccinated, through their employers, has been the way she received more questions.
Earlier this week, Arwady released new details about the city’s vaccine distribution plan, including tentative dates for when each of the next phases could begin, with a goal of opening vaccination for all Chicago residents over 16 until the end of May.
Arwady announced in a live broadcast on Tuesday that the city will attempt to enter Phase 1C on March 29, followed by Phase 2 on May 31.
Phase 1C includes all essential workers not covered in the previous phases, as well as Chicago citizens between the ages of 16 and 64 who have underlying medical problems, said Arwady.
“Looking at Phase 2, which is when a vaccine is actually available to all Chicago residents, we are provisionally saying that it can start on May 31, late May. All of these numbers for Phase 1C and Phase 2 are subject to changes, but just to give people a high-level sense of what we’re thinking, “said Arwady.
Arwady noted again on Thursday that those who qualify for Phase 1B vaccination, scheduled to start on Monday, do not need to register anywhere yet, but the option may be available soon.
Chicago officials say the best way to get updates on vaccination implementation is through the “Chi COVID Coach”, a platform that the Chicago Department of Public Health is using to monitor symptoms, providing information about tests in the city and help you get the latest details about the city’s vaccination plan – including notifying you when you can register to receive the vaccine.
You can sign up for the Chi COVID Coach here.