Suburban health departments do not agree with Illinois’ plan to expand eligibility for the vaccine beginning Thursday to people under the age of 65 who suffer from medical conditions.
Suburban Cook, DuPage, Lake, McHenry and Will County health officials, as well as Chicago health officials, say the supply of vaccines is too low to allow access to more people. Many essential workers and people aged 65 and over still have difficulty getting the vaccine after being eligible a month ago.
“Given our scarce supply of vaccines, we need to make a local decision that best serves the needs of our residents,” Lake County Health Department officials said in a statement.
Health departments did not provide a specific timeline for when those medically vulnerable residents will be able to be vaccinated.
Other vaccine providers in these counties, such as pharmacy chains and hospital networks, are not affected by health department decisions.
Walgreens spokeswoman Emily Delnicki said pharmacies follow state eligibility guidelines and confirmed that people can go to stores outside their county to get vaccinated.
“When people arrive for appointments, patients must sign an affidavit confirming that they meet their state’s eligibility requirements for the vaccine,” Delnicki said. “Patients must also show a valid government identification to confirm their identity at the time of the vaccination appointment. You can choose a different store in your county as long as appointments and inventory are available.”
The Kane County Health Department did not respond to requests for information, but says its website provides COVID-19 vaccines to health care workers and essential workers. The website is aimed at people over the age of 65 looking for vaccines in clinics, pharmacies, hospitals and medical offices.
At Mount Prospect, Nancy Horton said the search for vaccine appointments for her and her husband has not been exhausted after several weeks of attempts. She hopes postponing eligibility for the vaccine for those under 65 will release doses for her and other people in the over-65 category who have been waiting since they were eligible on Jan. 25.
“It looks like we’re spinning in circles,” he said. “Look at the sites every day and get the same answer all the time. It’s totally frustrating not to get information or anything that looks like a hopeful note.”
Governor JB Pritzker two weeks ago announced the expansion of eligibility for those with medical conditions that put them at high risk for severe COVID-19 cases, including people with cancer, kidney disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and other lung diseases, diabetes, heart problems, weakened immunity after a solid organ transplant, obesity, pregnancy, and sickle cell disease.
“Right now we don’t have the vaccine supplies to expand to (phase) 1B-plus,” said Steve Brandy, a spokesman for Will County Health Department. “We hope to be able to do that soon.”
Meanwhile, state health officials announced 43,282 more vaccines on Tuesday, as the state received an additional 50,710 doses of the vaccine. State officials said they expect 500,000 new doses by the end of the week.
To date, 1,664,128 people in Illinois have received at least one dose of the vaccine, according to records from the Illinois Department of Public Health.
IDPH officials also announced 27 more deaths from COVID-19, as well as 1,665 new cases of the disease.
The death toll from the virus by the state is now 20,330, while 1,177,320 Illinois residents have been infected since the start of the pandemic.
Hospitals across the state treat 1,488 patients for respiratory disease. Of those hospitalized, 361 are in intensive care, according to IDPH records.