The site, located on Oakton Street, not far from O’Hare Airport, is one of the first to offer the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
Appointments for the Des Plaines Mass Vaccination Site can be made at vaccine.cookcountyil.gov or by phone at (833) 308-1988. The site will be open Monday through Friday, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
“Today, with our opening, we are very excited to say that today we offer 800 vaccination slots,” said Ratna Kanumury of Cook County Health.
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Jack Alberts, 83, was thrilled when he arrived at his appointment, reflecting on how difficult it has been not to see his grandchildren.
“I haven’t seen my grandchildren … excuse me … in over a year and that’s a little hard,” he said.
Alberts like many others struggled to book an appointment when Cook County Health opened them on Thursday. The 18,000 seats were reserved within hours.
Jill Walsh is a nursing instructor who thought she would administer the vaccine before she could get it, but she was lucky enough to have an appointment on the opening day of the site.
“I was going to wait for the Johnson & Johnson vaccine and didn’t expect to get it until this summer, so when it was available locally, I loved it,” he said.
Scott Rovner had the feeling of winning the lottery when he finally got an online slot.
“When he played it was like,‘ Oh my God, thank God, I had a date, ’” Royner said. “I just got free today, so everything worked out.”
Kevin Schneider is a college student working at McDonald’s and this weekend will celebrate his 19th birthday as a vaccinated man.
“It’s like a weight on my chest, I feel so much safer,” he said.
The new Des Plaines site is for Cook County residents only and becomes the first large-scale vaccination site in the state to administer the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
“It’s a single-dose vaccine that is 100% safe and effective in preventing death,” Kanumury said.
Cook County Health says as the site grows, it will be able to offer 2,800 slots on a given day.
Right now, four 18-member National Guard teams are supporting the effort.
The aim is to vaccinate people aged 65 and over, health workers and front-line and basic staff before opening up to the general population.
“The federal government has assured us that they will be able to supply enough vaccine to anyone who wants to receive the vaccine by the end of May,” Kanumury said.
Cook County Health says they still don’t know when they will offer more appointments for this current phase. They said it will depend on vaccine shipments.
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