More than 100,000 appointments for COVID-19 vaccines will open this week at the new United Center mass vaccination site, but not for everyone.
Appointments will open exclusively to Illinois residents 65 and older on Thursday at 8:30 a.m., Gov. JB Pritzker said in a statement, noting that there will be two ways to register:
- To register online, visit Zocdoc.com/vaccine. The website is projected to handle a much higher volume of appointment requests. Zocdoc will show real-time appointment availability and eligible residents will be able to select a date / time and book an appointment online. The date of birth will be mandatory when booking an appointment to confirm vaccine eligibility.
- To register by phone, call (312) 746-4835. To help bridge the digital divide, a multilingual call center will be available to help seniors make an appointment. This call center will be available from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., Monday through Saturday, and from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday. Given the high anticipated demand for appointments, residents who can use the website should book their appointments online. Although the call center has 200 employees, those who need to use the call center are likely to experience long waiting times.
Appointments will initially only be open to seniors for an exclusive registration period until Sunday afternoon, Chicago Department of Public Health commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady said in a Facebook Live update on Tuesday morning.
“Dating will only be open to people 65 and older,” Arwady said. “Appointments will be open only to seniors, ages 65 and older, from Thursday at 8:30 a.m. to Sunday at 4 p.m. Therefore, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday is the moment when if you’re over 65, you know someone over 65, help them make an appointment. “
“So once we get to Sunday, if we don’t see all the appointments taken by people over 65, starting at 4pm on Sunday is when we would open up to people with underlying conditions,” Arwady added.
A coalition of federal, state and local officials announced last week that the United Center would become a mass vaccination site under a new federal pilot program, which will open on March 10th.
But Pritzker said Tuesday that the site will open on a limited basis a day earlier, on March 9, with a full opening the next day. Arwady said early opening was possible based on “how some of the resources come in.”
The United Center site will operate seven days a week for eight weeks and will be able to manage 6,000 shots a day at full capacity, officials said, noting that vaccinations could only be done by appointment and that “it was anticipated that demand would be high. ” These doses will be provided directly from the federal government and will not deviate from the supply shipped to Chicago or Illinois.
Arwady also noted Tuesday that Uber offers 20,000 free trips to and from the United Center for Chicago residents who need transportation assistance. He said the first weeks of operation of the site would be advanced, but that there are plans to add a upload component in the coming weeks.
After the special senior registration period that opens Thursday, the site will be open to all Illinois residents, not just those living in Chicago, who currently meet the requirements for vaccination according to the current phase 1B Plus of the state’s vaccine deployment plan.
The state last week extended the Phase 1B guidelines, opening up eligibility to include people with certain high-risk medical illnesses and comorbidities.
The list of high-risk medical conditions that meet the requirements (which may change) includes:
- Cancer
- Chronic kidney disease
- COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease)
- Diabetes
- Heart condition
- Immunocompromised state from a solid organ transplant
- Obesity
- Pregnancy
- Lung disease
- Sickle cell disease
Previously, under the first iteration of phase 1B, residents 65 years of age or older, as well as essential workers, were eligible to receive the vaccine. Here’s a look at those who already qualified for Phase 1B:
- Residents 65 years of age or older
- Essential front-line workers, which means “residents who have a higher risk of exposure to COVID-19 because of their job functions, often because they cannot work from home and / or have to work closely with others without being able to distance themselves socially.This includes:
- First responders: Fires, law enforcement, 911 workers, security personnel, school officers
- Education: Teachers, principals, student aid, student aid, daycare
- Food and agriculture: Processing, plants, veterinary health, livestock services, animal care
- Manufacturing: Industrial production of goods for distribution to retail, wholesale or other manufactures
- Corrections and interns: Prison officers, juvenile facility staff, in-person support workers, inmates
- USPS workers
- Public transport workers: Flight crew, bus drivers, train drivers, taxi drivers, public transport drivers, in-person assistance, travel sharing services
- Grocery store workers: Baggers, ATMs, stockers, collection, customer service
- Hostels and daycare staff: Shelter for homeless people, shelter for women, adult program / start day, sheltered workshop, psychosocial rehabilitation
The United Center is one of 18 nationally established “federally established vaccination centers” that President Joe Biden’s administration highlighted on Friday as newly opened or open in the coming weeks, which will be able to administer a combined total of 61,000 shots a day at full capacity.