Illinois health officials announced Friday the launch of a registration for the statewide coronavirus vaccination appointment on their website, which should provide doses more effectively.
“As we increase the capacity to make the vaccine widely available, we will launch a statewide website to provide more information so you can request an appointment to get vaccinated,” said Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker , at a press conference.
Illinois residents can now access the state’s coronavirus website, which provides the vaccination plan, the Restore Illinois plan, and pandemic information. Once appointments are available, residents can access a link that will take them to their local health care provider to coordinate when and where to receive the vaccine.
Pritzker added that some pharmacies, such as Walgreens, already have an online dating website, and are expected to follow others.
“Although appointments will be difficult to get for some time, times will be increasingly 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 25th. Phase 1B will include approximately 3.2 million Illinois residents, according to the state.
Phase 1B includes anyone over the age of 65, as well as essential front-line workers who have been prioritized, such as first aid, people working in correctional facilities, grocery store workers, daycare workers, people working in manufacturing settings, educators and in school settings, public transport employees, postal workers and others.
Pritzker said last week that the state will defend “hundreds of vaccination sites statewide, including retail pharmacy chains, Illinois National Guard mobile equipment, state-run mass vaccination sites in the north.” , central and southern Illinois, hospitals and emergency care locations “and, ultimately, medical offices and large employers who can host their own workplace clinics”
The Illinois National Guard was also active in helping local health departments expand vaccination clinics, Pritzker said, with the first two teams deployed to Cook County Department of Health sites.
As of Jan. 25, National Guard-led sites will begin vaccinating eligible Phase 1B residents, as well as CVS, Jewel Osco, and Walgreens sites, Pritzker said.
All of these vaccination sites will only be appointment, Pritzker said, asking residents not to line up at the store or call local pharmacies, but to use the website once they are available.
Chicago is currently preparing to enter the next phase of vaccinations Monday along with the rest of Illinois, opening doses for front-line workers and those over 65.
But the city’s top doctor warned on Thursday that appointments for those who meet the requirements will be “very limited,” and urged patience as he said most people who qualify for vaccination in this next phase will probably have to wait “a few weeks”.
Chicago Department of Public Health Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady said the city does not receive doses “close enough” from the federal government to vaccinate everyone eligible, a trend that has been developing nationwide since the shipments last month.
“Let me point out that we don’t have any vaccine close enough to be vaccinated close to the number of people who want to be vaccinated as of Monday,” Arwady said. “I’m glad there’s so much demand here. We don’t waste any vaccines, we haven’t wasted any vaccines in Chicago in a day, we won’t waste any vaccines in the future.”
But he noted that Chicago has more than 360,000 residents over the age of 65 and more than 300,000 people working in some of the sectors eligible to be vaccinated in phase 1B.
Arwady said Thursday that there are four ways residents can get vaccinated against COVID-19: through their health care system or health care provider, through pharmacies, through a health care site. Dedicated vaccination as points of dispensing sites or through your employer. .
Arwady said the first way, through the individual medical systems of residents, is how most people will be vaccinated. This includes primary care physicians, federally qualified health centers, hospitals and other care systems, he said, noting that many of those systems were already contacting “some of their most vulnerable patients” to make appointments.
Arwady said regarding the second way, through pharmacies, that the city had registered more than 100 pharmacies in Chicago and would share more information Monday on how to sign up for an appointment that way.
The third route will be through mass vaccination sites, such as Chicago’s “POD” locations, Arwady said. The city had launched six of the PODs at City Colleges locations, which he noted are still for health workers, not for the general public, and by appointment only.
Arwady said the fourth way xicacans can be vaccinated, through their employers, has been the way they have received more questions.
Earlier this week, Arwady unveiled new details on the city’s vaccine distribution plan, including tentative dates for when each of the next phases could begin, with the goal of opening vaccines to all children over 16 in late May.
Arwady announced on Tuesday in a live broadcast that the city will tentatively attempt to enter Phase 1C on March 29, followed by Phase 2 on May 31.
Phase 1C includes all essential workers not covered in previous phases, as well as 16- to 64-year-old Chicagoans who have underlying medical conditions, Arwady said.
“Looking ahead to Phase 2, which is really when a vaccine is available for all children, we say provisionally that it could start on May 31, at the end of May. All of these Phase 1C and Phase 2 numbers are subject to to changes, but only to give people a high-level sense of what we’re thinking, ”Arwady said.
Arwady reiterated on Thursday that those who meet the requirements for phase 1B vaccines, scheduled to begin on Monday, have yet to register anywhere, but the option may be available soon.
Chicago officials say the best way to get updates on vaccination launches is through “Chi COVID Coach,” a platform the Chicago Department of Public Health uses to control symptoms by providing information about tests in the city. and helping you get the latest details on the city’s vaccination plan, including notification of when you can sign up for the vaccine.
You can sign up for Coach Chi COVID here.