No way to register yet, more vaccine locations expected in coming days and weeks
Information provided by the Governors Office
CHICAGO, Ill. (January 22, 2021) — Building on the state’s progress in administering COVID-19 vaccinations, Governor JB Pritzker announced Illinois will move into the early stages of Phase 1B of the COVID-19 Vaccine Administration Plan beginning on Monday, January 25. While federal vaccine shipments to states remain limited, the state is building out provider capacity to ensure efficient distribution as soon as more vaccine becomes available. Illinois remains committed to distributing the vaccine in an equitable, accessible way and as a part of Phase 1B, all residents over the age of 65 and frontline essential workers can receive the vaccine. Illinois will begin vaccinations for eligible residents by appointment only.
“Illinois is building capacity so that as the vaccine supply increases, we will be ready,” said Governor JB Pritzker. “As the nation awaits greater supplies and we ramp up vaccination sites, every Illinoisan can do their part to fight this pandemic with the tools we know to work—masking and distancing—and over the last 8 weeks we’ve all used those tools and made real progress. Enormous sacrifices are being made to achieve this progress, but those sacrifices are making a real difference.”
Getting the vaccine
Over 3.2 million Illinoisans are eligible for Phase 1B, which includes 65+ individuals and frontline essential workers. Eligible residents will be able to receive vaccinations at one of the Illinois National Guard (ILNG) assisted sites, at a site operated by a local health department, or at a partner pharmacy. Walgreens is now online in limited number of sites statewide. CVS and Jewel-Osco will be coming online early next week and additional pharmacies such as Hy-Vee, Mariano’s, and Kroger will be joining later next week. Taken together, these pharmacy partners will provide hundreds of sites in every region of the state.
At this time, these sites will be available by appointment only. As the federal supply of vaccines increases and Illinois receives more vaccines, the state will launch walk-in locations and expand sites to additional providers like doctor’s offices and urgent care clinics. More information about those locations will be released in the coming weeks.
In addition, over 18 state and federal agencies, including the ILNG, the Illinois State Police, and the Illinois Emergency Management Agency personnel who could be assisting in COVID-19 response will be receiving vaccinations at McCormick Place in Chicago and the Illinois State Police Academy in Springfield. These sites are not open to the public at this time.
Sports Guidance Under Phase 4
Working alongside the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) and the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE), IDPH also announced sports guidance for all youth and adult recreational sports under Phase 4 of the Restore Illinois plan. Sports guidance under Phase 4 expands the level of play allowed for all sports to allow play at the intra-conference, region, or league levels.
While regions in the state continue to move toward Phase 4 of the Restore Illinois Plan, the risk of a resurgence, particularly with new variants such as the U.K. variant remains serious. The state urges all Illinois residents to continue following guidance aimed at reducing the spread of COVID-19, such as wearing a mask, reducing interactions outside the household, practicing social distancing, frequent hand washing, and receiving the COVID-19 vaccine when eligible.
IDPH will continue to closely monitor test positivity, ICU bed availability, and the number of people in the hospital with COVID-19. Should data show regions trending in the wrong direction, based on the established mitigation metrics, regions could once again find themselves in a higher tier with increased measures.
Related
- Neighboring counties move to more relaxed COVID restrictions (January 21, 2021)
- This week’s COVID Catch-up: How the virus affected me (January 20, 2021)
- IL announces four vaccination sites in Cook County (January 19, 2021)
