A total of 110,000 appointments will be made available and the first appointments will be opened at 8:30 am on Thursday for the elderly.
“This is a call for the elderly, their families or anyone else in the network and the support system for the elderly to sign up for these consultations, before they are attended to,” said Mayor Lori Lightfoot.
To register for an interview, visit www.zocdoc.com/vaccine or call the multilingual hotline (312) 746-4835 from 8 am to 8 pm Monday to Saturday and 8 am to 4 pm on Sundays.
“I am really hopeful that there will be a dedicated quota for slots over the phone,” said Courtney Hedderman, Associate State Director for AARP Illinois. “It will make a big difference for people.”
After the enrollment period for seniors, anyone eligible for a vaccine as part of the Phase 1B + group can start scheduling appointments at 4pm on Sunday, March 7.
United Center will open for a limited number of appointments on March 9, before a full opening on March 10. The venue will be open from 8:00 am to 8:00 pm, seven days a week.
Officials said that initially only occasional vaccines will be offered, but there are plans to add a drive-through component. The city is working with councilors and community groups to get people to sign up and attend their appointments.
“One of the reasons we really wanted to keep the office hours open until Sunday was to offer if the appointments weren’t all fulfilled by then, really thinking about the weekend hours when religious groups might be meeting and encouraging them – to also think of ways to help enroll their seniors, “said Dr. Allison Arwady.
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On Friday, 222 US Army soldiers will arrive in Chicago to prepare for the mission of administering up to 6,000 doses a day. UC will administer the Pfizer vaccine, so recipients must return three weeks later for a second dose.
The city said Johnson & Johnson’s new single-dose vaccine will be used this month to vaccinate airport workers and other transport workers, as well as those working in the industry and people who are at home.
“Our goal is to vaccinate those most at risk individuals, in terms of hospitalizations and death, and those most at risk environments,” said Dr. Arwady.
Currently, there are still half a million elderly people in Cook County who have not been vaccinated.
“In order for us to truly overcome this terrible pandemic, we must vaccinate our elderly people as quickly and humanly as possible, without shortcuts,” said Mayor Lightfoot.
The mayor is encouraging those who are tech savvy and have access to computers to sign up online and leave the phones to anyone who needs to call to make an appointment.
Lawyer Aurora Health confirmed that he is partnering with the city at a potential mass vaccination site near Wrigley Field, but declined to share specific details.
Although the United Center’s mass vaccination center is administered by the federal government, this site would be administered by Advocate.
AURORA HEALTH DEFENSE DECLARATION:
As community health leaders, we are intensely committed to doing everything in our power to carry out the vaccination process in the fastest, fairest and safest way possible.
We are proud to partner with a potential mass vaccination site at Wrigley Field, which would potentially be authorized by the City of Chicago. If the location is designated and vaccine supplies from the city are available, Advocate Aurora Health will provide clinical staff and technical infrastructure.
This location is being considered as a convenient option for those who do not own a car, as it is easily accessible through the CTA. This is part of our continued focus on the partnership to ensure that residents of disproportionately affected communities have access to the vaccine as supplies are available.
We continue to believe that the vaccine is our best chance to end this pandemic and we continue to use our current, very limited supplies for our most vulnerable patients over the age of 65.
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