FILE – Medical Assistant Keona Shepard holds up the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine as she prepares to administer it at the New Orleans Ernest N. Morial Convention Center during the mass coronavirus vaccination in New Orleans, in this Thursday, March 4, 2021, file photo. (Chris Granger/The Advocate via AP, File)
Two new coronavirus vaccination sites are set to open in Will County later this month, health officials announced Friday.
Beginning the week of March 22, Will County residents can begin receiving vaccine doses in Wilmington at St. Rose Church, and in Monee at the former Second Place Church starting the week of March 29.
Both locations will provide vaccinations to those eligible under Phase 1B, according to health officials, which includes residents ages 65 and older, as well as frontline workers.
“Access to vaccinations is vital to winning the battle against the devastating effect of COVID-19 and getting our county back to normal,” Jennifer Bertino Tarrant, County Executive, said. “These two clinics will provide critical access to our people who live and work in Will County.”
The two clinics will administer vaccinations by appointment Tuesday through Sunday. To book an appointments, residents and workers in Will County can visit WillCountyHealth.org or call the COVID-19 Hotline at (815) 740-8977.
In Cook County, approximately 20,000 first-dose coronavirus vaccination appointments opened Friday for five locations, health officials announced.
The appointments opened at noon for those eligible in Phases 1A and 1B, but proof of eligibility will be required, officials said.
Cook County Health said the following vaccination sites will receive doses of the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines:
- Tinley Park Convention Center (Moderna)
- Triton College (Pfizer)
- South Suburban College (Pfizer)
- North Riverside Health Center (Pfizer)
- Des Plaines (Pfizer, the week of March 15)
All vaccinations are by appointment only, health officials noted, with proof of eligibility in Phases 1A or 1B. The appointments can be made online at vaccine.cookcountyil.gov or by calling (833) 308-1988.
Feeling out of the loop? We'll catch you up on the Chicago news you need to know. Sign up for the weekly Chicago Catch-Up newsletter.
Local
Previously, the Des Plaines location was administering Johnson & Johnson vaccine doses, but the county said due to limited supply, the location will instead be provided with the Pfizer vaccine for the week of March 15.
Those who receive vaccines through the Cook County sites will book their second-dose appointments the same day as their first-dose appointments.
The sites are part of several mass vaccination locations in Illinois. Currently, there are 22 statewide. Here's a full list.
Nine rural Illinois hospitals will also be receiving additional COVID vaccine doses from the state as part of a new program aimed at expanding equitable distribution, according to officials.
On Thursday, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker and the Illinois Department of Public Health announced the nine rural critical access hospitals were selected as part of the Safety Net Direct Vaccine Allocation Pilot Program that will provide hundreds of doses to each site per week.
The state will provide a total of nearly 6,000 doses of the vaccine to the nine hospitals in addition to the existing allocations that the state already is distributing to health care sites.
The effort marks the next phase of the vaccine pilot program that was announced last week in which five health centers and four hospitals received vaccine supply from the federal government.
The nine hospitals include:
- Taylorville Memorial Hospital, Christian County
- Gibson Area Hospital and Health Services, Ford County
- Hamilton Memorial Hospital District, Hamilton County
- Abraham Lincoln Memorial Hospital, Logan County
- Genesis Medical Center Aledo, Mercer County
- Hillsboro Area Hospital, Montgomery County
- Hopedale Medical Complex, Tazewell County
- Carle Hoopeston Regional Health Center, Vermilion County
- Fairfield Memorial Hospital, Wayne County
