Barbara Shields-Johnson, director of Nursing Services at Loretto Hospital, gets her 2nd and final dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine at Norwegian American Hospital on the West Side, Tuesday morning, Jan. 5, 2021. | Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times
Look below for information on how to sign up for updates on your place in line for the vaccine in Cook, Lake, DuPage, Kane, McHenry and Will counties.
Illinois has been following a phased plan to distribute available COVID-19 vaccine doses since the first vaccine was approved on Dec. 11. So far, the FDA has approved the vaccine developed by Pfizer-BioNTech, and the one developed by Moderna.
The state’s distribution plan aligned with federal guidelines for prioritizing healthcare workers and residents of long-term care facilities. Governor Pritzker announced on Jan. 6 that the state would break with federal guidelines and begin vaccinating residents over the age of 65. Federal recommendations have since been updated to include people over 65.
Illinois’ plan contains two phases, which are broken down into sub-phases based on supply and who is eligible for a shot. Phase 1, when there remains a limited supply of doses available, contains sub-phases 1a, 1b, and 1c.
The first vaccine shipment arrived in Illinois on Dec. 14, and phase 1a began the next day with vaccinations of healthcare workers across the state.
Phase 1b expands eligibility to residents over the age of 65, along with essential workers such as firefighters, grocery store workers, teachers and inmates.
Phase 1c, still during the limited supply of vaccines, extends eligibility to people between the ages of 16 and 64 with high-risk health conditions. It also includes additional categories of essential workers.
Once supply increases sufficiently, vaccination will open up to the remaining population of Illinois over the age of 16. Use of COVID-19 vaccines in young children has not yet been approved.
An outline of the state’s plan, with detailed explanations of who might be eligible in each stage of phase 1, is available here.
So far, most local health departments and the Illinois Department of Public Health are not providing specific estimates for when people might be able to receive vaccines. Public health departments in Chicago and its collar counties have released varying degrees of surveys and registration tools. For information on each of these tools, see the links for each county below.
City of Chicago
The city of Chicago is currently vaccinating healthcare workers, but officials announced on Jan. 8 that they would move forward with vaccinating residents over the age of 65. So far, no surveys or registration tools have been released for non-healthcare workers in Chicago.
Officials with healthcare clinics not associated with a hospital system are encouraged to fill out the city’s survey to get more information about where and when they can be vaccinated.
Cook County
If you are a healthcare worker or other category of essential worker, and either live or work in suburban Cook County, you can fill out this survey to …read more
Source:: Chicago Sun Times
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