More than 100,000 appointments for COVID-19 vaccines at the new United Center mass vaccination site opened Thursday. Here’s a look at what you need to know, including how to register:
Appointments open exclusively to Illinois residents 65 and older on Thursday at 8:30 a.m., said Gov. JB Pritzker, who noted that there are 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 the availability of appointments in real time 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. There will be a multilingual call center to help seniors request an appointment 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.
The exclusive registration period for seniors will be open until Sunday afternoon, Chicago Department of Public Health commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady said in a Facebook Live update Tuesday.
“Appointments will only be open to seniors, over 65 and older, from Thursday at 8:30 a.m. to Sunday at 4 p.m. Please meet someone over 65, please , help him get an appointment, ”Arwady said.
“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 made 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.
Vaccinations will be offered at no cost and no insurance is required or requested on the spot, Pritzker’s office said.
Officials also noted that Uber offers 20,000 free trips to and from the United Center for Chicago residents who need transportation assistance. After a Chicago resident makes an appointment with Zocdoc, they will receive a confirmation email asking if they need transportation. If so, they will receive a $ 40 Uber credit that will only work for round trips.
Arwady noted on Tuesday that the first weeks of operation of the site would be advanced, but that it is planned to add a climb component in the coming weeks.
After the special senior registration period for seniors, the site will be open to all Illinois residents, not just those living in Chicago, who currently meet the requirements for vaccination under the current Phase 1B Plus of the plan. deployment of state vaccines.
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
- To smoke
- 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 work duties, 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
Although the state expanded its Phase 1B, many counties, health departments and hospital systems, including Chicago and Cook County, said they would not join the rest of Illinois to increase eligibility, citing a low supply of vaccines for those who already meet the requirements. The United Center will be the only vaccination site where Chicago and Cook County residents who meet Phase 1B Plus requirements can be vaccinated.
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.
These sites, including the United Center, were selected based on several criteria, including the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s “Social Vulnerability Index.”
This index helps officials “identify and map communities that are likely to need support before, during, and after a dangerous event” taking into account “critical data points, including socioeconomic status, household composition, and minority status, languages, housing type and transportation, ”the White House said.
It was identified that Chicago and Cook County had a “marginalized population with significant medical care,” the White House said, adding that the United Center is in a “central and accessible” area with nearby public transportation. and high ease of walking.
“The site will serve up to 2.9 million people living within a 30-minute drive,” said the White House, which noted 22,000 people live a mile walk from the arena.
“The United Center is one of the best places to vaccinate a lot of people in America: it’s easy to get to, it’s in the middle of a medically neglected community, it can handle a crowd of people, and it’s well known to everyone in Illinois.” , Pritzker said in a statement last week.
“I am deeply grateful to the Biden-Harris administration for working closely with us to achieve this high capacity place and I am particularly proud to have worked together to prioritize older people in this process, bringing us very close. more to ending this pandemic, “he continued.