Cook County moved to Phase 1B Plus of its COVID vaccinations on Monday, expanding eligibility to residents 16 years of age or older with specific health conditions.
The Cook County Department of Public Health released about 12,500 first-dose appointments on Friday ahead of the eligibility expansion, all of which were booked within a few hours.
All vaccine providers in suburban Cook County have been asked to move to Phase 1B Plus beginning Monday, as have the state-supported mass vaccination sites in the area. Those sites are:
- The Tinley Park Convention Center, 18451 Convention Center Drive
- South Suburban College, 15800 State St. in South Holland
- Triton College, 2000 5th Ave. in River Grove
- A former K-Mart at 1155 E Oakton St in Des Plaines
Those mass vaccination sites were previously only administering vaccine allocated for Cook County, but CCDPH said that beginning this week, they will receive additional vaccine supply to enable the sites to serve all eligible Illinois residents.
As such, available appointments at those sites moving forward will be open to all Illinois residents who are qualified to get vaccinated in Phase 1B Plus as well as in Phase 1A or the earlier iteration of Phase 1B, which largely included certain essential workers.
The CCDPH announced Wednesday that it would move to Phase 1B Plus, where much of the rest of state currently is, beginning on Monday.
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The county will expand eligibility to residents 16 years of age or older with specific health conditions, including: cancer, chronic kidney disease, COPD, diabetes, heart conditions, immunocompromised from an organ transplant, obesity, pulmonary disease and sickle cell disease, as well as individuals with disabilities, pregnant women and smokers.
CCDPH said it will continue to evaluate whether to move forward into Phase 1C "in the near future."
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Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Thursday announced that all Illinois residents age 16 and older outside the city of Chicago will become eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine next month. The following day, he announced that more essential workers would become eligible ahead of that expansion.
For a complete look at where and how you can make an appointment in Illinois or where you can receive vaccine information for your area, click here.
