Illinois health officials on Friday announced the launch of a coronavirus vaccine notification note on their website, which should make doses more effective.
“As we increase the ability to make vaccine widely available, we will launch a global website to provide more information so you can make an appointment to be vaccinated,” the Illinois government, JB Pritzker, said in a statement. press conference said.
Illinois residents already have access to the state’s coronavirus website, which contains the vaccination plan, Restore Illinois plan and information about the pandemic. Once appointments are available, residents can access a link they send to their local healthcare provider to coordinate when and where the vaccine should be received.
Pritzker added that some pharmacies, such as Walgreens, already have an appointment website available online, and others are expected to follow soon.
“Although it has been difficult to make appointments for some time, times will become 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, according to the state, will include about 3.2 million Illinois residents.
Phase 1B includes anyone over the age of 65, as well as essential workers in the forefront, such as first responders, people working in correctional facilities, workers in grocery stores, day care workers, people working in manufacturing establishments, educators and those in school institutions, public transport workers , postal workers and others.
Pritzker said last week that the state would “set up hundreds of vaccination sites across the state, including retail pharmacy chains, Illinois National Guard mobile national teams, state-run mass vaccination facilities in northern, central and southern Illinois, hospitals and emergency care locations, and ultimately doctors’ offices and large employers who can house their own clinics in the workplace “
The Illinois National Guard has also been activated to assist local health departments with the expansion of vaccination clinics, Pritzker said.
From January 25, the National Guard-led sites will begin vaccinating residents eligible under Phase 1B, as well as sites at CVS, Jewel Osco and Walgreens, Pritzker said.
Pritzker said all the vaccination sites will be by appointment only and residents should ask not to queue at the store or call their local pharmacies, but rather use the website as soon as it is available.
Chicago is currently preparing Monday with the rest of Illinois for the next phase of vaccinations, which will open doses for frontline workers and those over 65.
But the city’s top doctor warned on Thursday that appointments for those who qualify will be ‘very limited’ and insists, as she says most people who qualify for vaccinations in this next phase will probably have to wait a number of weeks. ‘
Allison Arwady, commissioner of the Chicago Department of Public Health, said the city does not receive “close enough” doses from the federal government to vaccinate everyone who qualifies – a trend that has been playing out nationwide since last delivery. month has begun.
“Let me emphasize that we do not have nearly enough vaccine to vaccinate near the number of people who want to be vaccinated on Monday,” Arwady said. “I am delighted that there is so much demand here. We are not wasting any vaccine, we wereted no vaccine in Chicago in one day, and we will not waste any vaccine.”
But she noted that Chicago has more than 360,000 residents over the age of 65 and more than 300,000 people working in some sectors that can be vaccinated in Phase 1B.
Arwady said Thursday there are four ways residents can be vaccinated against COVID-19: through their medical system or healthcare provider, through pharmacies, through a dedicated vaccination facility such as the delivery sites or through their employer. .
Arwady said the first way through residents’ individual medical systems is how most people will be vaccinated. These include primary care physicians, federally qualified health centers, hospitals and other care systems, she said, noting that many of the systems already reach out to some of their most vulnerable patients to make appointments.
Arwady said regarding the second way, through pharmacies, that the city has registered more than 100 pharmacies across Chicago and will share more information on Monday on how to sign up for an appointment this way.
The third way would be through mass vaccination sites like Chicago’s “POD” locations, Arwady said. The city has launched six of the PODs at City Colleges locations, which she says are still for health workers, not the general public, and by appointment only.
Arwady said the fourth way Chicago residents can be vaccinated by their employers is the way she received the most questions.
Earlier this week, Arwady released new details about the city’s vaccine distribution plan, including tentative dates for the start of each subsequent phase, with the goal of opening vaccinations to all Chicago residents over 16 by May.
Arwady announced in a live stream on Tuesday that the city will be looking at phase 1C for the time being, on March 29, followed by phase 2 on May 31.
Phase 1C includes all essential workers not treated in earlier stages, as well as Chicagoans between the ages of 16 and 64 who have underlying medical conditions, Arwady said.
“If we look ahead to Phase 2, that is, when a vaccine is available to all Chicago residents, we tentatively say it could begin on May 31 through the end of May. All of these numbers for Phase 1C and Phase 2 are subject to change. “But just to give people a high level of understanding of what we think,” Arwady said.
Arwady again noted on Thursday that those eligible for phase 1B vaccinations, which are expected to start on Monday, do not need to register anywhere yet, but that the option will be available soon.
Chicago officials say the best way to get vaccination updates is through the Chi COVID Coach, a platform used by the Chicago Department of Public Health to monitor symptoms, provide information on testing in the Chicago area. city and helps you get the latest information about the city’s vaccination plan – including notice when you can register to get your vaccination.
You can sign up for Chi COVID Coach here.