When can I get the shot? Is it safe? Answers to 22 questions about COVID vaccine in IL
As COVID-19 vaccine supplies remain limited, only select groups are eligible to be vaccinated.
But shipments are expected to pick up over time, according to state officials.
That means more people will be able to get vaccines and more providers will be allowed to administer them. Who’s next in line? Where will the vaccine be offered? And is it safe?
Here are answers to questions you may have about the effort to vaccinate people against COVID-19 in Illinois.
What is the plan to distribute vaccines in Illinois?
Q: Why are only some people eligible?
A: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is recommending states prioritize people with the highest risk of exposure to the new coronavirus that causes COVID-19 and greatest risk of severe illness from the disease.
(States can tweak these recommendations. Illinois, for example, is allowing people who are 65 years old and older to get vaccinated earlier than the federal government recommended.)
The first in line are health care workers and people who live or work in long-term care facilities, such as nursing homes.
Q: How long will it take to vaccinate them?
A: State officials previously estimated it would take four to six weeks, but it will likely be longer because vaccine delivery from the federal government has been slower than expected.
There are about 850,000 health care workers and long-term care residents and staff members in Illinois.
The first health care workers received shots Dec. 15.
CVS and Walgreens pharmacies are vaccinating long-term care residents and staff members. They started Dec. 28. The pharmacies announced they expect to finish giving the first of two doses by Jan. 25 at nursing homes. That does not include assisted living and other types of facilities.
Doses are administered three to four weeks apart, depending on the type of vaccine.
Q: Could we vaccinate more people if we gave them one shot instead of two?
A: There is debate about changing vaccine dosage to get more people vaccinated faster, but the U.S. Food and Drug Administration strongly recommends against it because it is “not supported by adequate scientific evidence.”
The FDA argues this move could harm people “because they may assume that they are fully protected when they are not, and accordingly, alter their behavior to take unnecessary risks.”
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When can I get the vaccine?
Q: Who is eligible for vaccination in Phase 1A?
A: These are the health care workers and long-term care residents and staff members who have been able to get the vaccine since mid-December in the first phase, Phase 1A, of Illinois’ vaccine distribution.
Nurses and nursing assistants
Physicians, nurse practitioners and physician assistants
Respiratory technicians
Pharmacists
Environmental services staff members
Phlebotomists
Infectious waste workers
Organ harvesters
Students on clinical rotations
Dietary staff members
Clergy and chaplains
Interpreters
Crisis intervention staff members
Laundry or security staff members
Reception staff members
Emergency Medical Services staff members
Fire department staff acting as EMS
Air medical transport workers
X-ray technicians
Dentists and hygienists
Plasma and blood donation staff members
Morticians
Home health workers
School nurses
Optometrists
Dermatologists
Dialysis staff members
Urgent care workers
Corrections nurses and aides
Physical, occupational and speech therapists
COVID-19 sample lab workers
COVID-19 testing workers
Vaccine clinic workers
Residents at skilled nursing facilities, assisted living facilities, care facilities for people who have developmental or intellectual disabilities or severe mental illness, state-run veterans’ homes and residential treatment centers for substance use
Long-term care facility staff members
Q: Who is eligible in Phase 1B?
A: Here is the group eligible for vaccination in Phase 1B of Illinois’ plan starting Jan. 25 statewide. There are about 3.2 million Illinoisans in Phase 1B.
People who are 65 years old or older
Firefighters
Law enforcement officers
911 workers
Security personnel
Teachers, principals and school support staff members
Daycare workers
Food and agriculture workers
Manufacturing workers
Corrections workers and inmates
U.S. Postal Service workers
Public transit workers, including those who work for ride-sharing services
Grocery store workers
Staff members at homeless shelters and women’s shelters
As of early February, the Illinois Department of Public Health had not completed its plans for future phases of distribution.
Q: How will I be notified when it’s my turn?
A: Local health officials have announced notification systems related to the vaccine that people can sign up for to get updates directly by phone or email.
These are the ways to let health departments know you want to set up a COVID-19 vaccine appointment when you become eligible:
- St. Clair County: County residents can fill out the COVID-19 Notification for Vaccine Availability form online at health.co.st-clair.il.us to be added to the vaccine waitlist. (If you don’t have internet access or need help signing up, call the health department at 618-825-4447.)
- Madison County: The health department closed its online survey to join the vaccine waitlist on Jan. 20 due to “overwhelming response.” It launched an online appointment scheduler, available at madisonchd.org, as well as a phone number to make appointments, 618-650-8445, for people who live or work in the county and who are eligible in Phases 1A and 1B. Anyone eligible who filled out the survey between Jan. 4 and Jan. 20 will get a direct call or email with the information about scheduling an appointment, according to the health department.
- Clinton County: County residents and people who work in the county can fill out the Clinton County, IL Health Department COVID-19 Vaccine Registry online at clintoncountyhealth.com or call the health department at 618-594-6622 to be added to the vaccine waitlist. (The waitlist is currently only for residents who are 65 years old or older. You don’t need to fill out the form if you already called to get on the waitlist.)
- Monroe County: County residents can sign up for the phone and email alert system CodeRED. Notifications will include the date and time of the county’s vaccination clinics, as well as which residents are eligible to seek appointments based on age or occupation.
- Randolph County: County residents can call the health department at 618-826-5007 to be added to the vaccine waitlist. (The waitlist is currently only for residents who are 65 years old or older.)
- Bond County: County residents and people who work in the county can fill out the Bond County, IL Health Department COVID-19 Vaccine Registry online at bchd.us to be added to the vaccine waitlist. (The waitlist is currently only for residents who are 65 years old or older, health care workers and frontline essential workers, including teachers, first responders and grocery store employees. You do not need to fill out the form if you already called the health department to get on the waitlist.)
- Washington County: County residents can call the health department at 618-327-3644 to be added to the vaccine waitlist. (The waitlist is currently only for residents who are 65 years old or older.)
Q: Where will I go to get the vaccine?
A: The state is compiling a list of locations online at coronavirus.illinois.gov.
As of Feb. 4, six local Walgreens locations are setting up appointments for those eligible in Phases 1A or 1B, according to the state website. The locations are:
- 5890 N. Belt West in Belleville
- 6505 N. Illinois St. in Fairview Heights
- 704 Cambridge Blvd. in O’Fallon
- 401 Belt Line Road in Collinsville
- 102 W. Vandalia St. in Edwardsville
- 1650 Washington Ave. in Alton
Anyone in the metro-east who is eligible to receive the vaccine can set up a vaccination appointment with Walgreens online at walgreens.com/findcare/vaccination/covid-19. You’ll have to make an online account. The pharmacy isn’t setting up appointments over the phone.
Eventually, people will be able to get the vaccine from more pharmacies, doctor’s offices, hospitals and health centers, as well as state-run and locally-run vaccination clinics.
The Illinois National Guard will stand up mass vaccination sites across the state like it did with COVID-19 testing sites, Gov. J.B. Pritzker said during a press briefing.
Q: How will I know when to get my second shot?
A: When someone is vaccinated, he or she will get a vaccination record card that includes when and where the first dose was administered and the type of vaccine, according to the Associated Press.
“Pharmacies, clinics and doctor’s offices will also likely send reminders, including by text, email or phone,” AP reported.
Q: How much will it cost me?
A: There is no cost for the vaccine, but providers can charge an administration fee for giving the shot to someone, according to the CDC.
That fee can be reimbursed by private insurance or, for uninsured patients, by the Health Resources and Services Administration’s Provider Relief Fund, CDC states on its website.
Q: Do I need to get vaccinated if I’ve had COVID-19?
A: The Illinois Department of Public Health says someone who has been diagnosed with COVID-19 should still plan to take the vaccine.
Evidence suggests that it is uncommon for someone to be infected again within 90 days, so people can wait until after that period to be vaccinated, according to the CDC.
Q: Can pregnant women get the vaccine?
A: Public health officials have encouraged talking to doctors about getting vaccinated because pregnant women were not involved in clinical trials.
Obstetricians at Barnes-Jewish Hospital strongly recommend that pregnant women receive the vaccine when it is available to them, according to a spokeswoman.
Q: Can children get the vaccine?
A: A pediatric vaccine is not yet available, and it may be some time before one is approved because clinical trials are needed, the Illinois Department of Public Health says.
Q: Can employers make vaccination mandatory?
A: The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has indicated that companies can require COVID-19 vaccines, the Associated Press reported.
People will be able to request exemptions to any employer mandates for medical or religious reasons, according to AP.
Will the vaccine affect safety rules and restrictions?
Q: Can I stop wearing a face mask after I get the vaccine?
A: Federal and state officials say people should continue wearing masks, avoiding crowds, keeping at least 6 feet away from others and washing their hands often to help protect themselves from the coronavirus.
“Because the vaccine will not be available immediately for most of the population, it will still be necessary to continue with the public health measures that we have been following,” the FDA says.
The Illinois Department of Public Health also notes that the COVID-19 vaccine, while highly effective, is not 100% effective.
Q: Can Illinois reopen the economy now that the vaccine is available?
A: State officials say infection rates are still too high to reopen everything.
But they started relaxing restrictions Jan. 16 if communities met criteria for infection and hospitalizations rates.
All 11 regions of the state are in the fourth of five planned phases of reopening the economy, which comes with its own set of rules. And additional rules were added on Nov. 20. The added rules are known as “resurgence mitigations,” which the state designed in three gradually more strict tiers. By Jan. 22, all regions moved out of Tier 3, the most strict.
“The vaccine and/or a highly effective treatment needs to be widely available, and new cases (of COVID-19) need to be eliminated for a sustained period of time, before we can move to Phase 5 or we risk the possibility of increased cases, hospitalizations, and deaths,” the Illinois Department of Public Health says.
Is the COVID-19 vaccine safe?
Q: What vaccines are available?
A: In December, the FDA authorized two vaccines made by drug companies for emergency use: one from Pfizer and BioNTech and the other from Moderna. It did so because “there are no adequate, approved, available alternatives” and because “the known and potential benefits of the (products) outweigh the known and potential risks,” the federal agency stated in documents for vaccine recipients.
Q: How were the vaccines studied?
A: Both vaccines have been shown to help prevent COVID-19 in clinical trials, and they continue to be studied, according to the FDA.
About 20,000 people received at least one dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine and 15,400 people received a dose of the Moderna vaccine during trials, the agency’s documents for vaccine recipients state.
Q: What are some common side effects of the COVID-19 vaccine?
A: The vaccine side effects that trial participants reported most often were fever, headache and generally feeling unwell, Dr. Ngozi Ezike, director of the Illinois Department of Public Health, said during a press briefing. The CDC says these symptoms are signs the immune system is working.
Q: How does that compare to the effects of COVID-19?
A: Some people experience mild illness from COVID-19 or no symptoms at all, but the disease can have potentially serious and life-threatening complications, including pneumonia and acute respiratory distress syndrome, leading to multi-organ failure and death, according to the FDA.
Q: Why are some people having allergic reactions to the vaccine?
A: Vaccines can sometimes cause allergic reactions, but they are usually rare and short-lived, according to reporting by the Associated Press, which cited experts and a U.S. study.
The FDA says anyone who has had a severe allergic reaction to any ingredient in the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna vaccines should not take that vaccine. The ingredients are listed in the agency’s documents for vaccine recipients, which are available at cvdvaccine.com and modernatx.com/covid19vaccine-eua. Providers are also required to give the information to individuals before they receive a shot.
How does the vaccine work?
Q: Can I be infected with the coronavirus from the vaccine?
A: People cannot become infected from the vaccine because it contains no live virus, according to the Illinois Department of Public Health.
“Instead, the vaccine directs your body to produce a protein that teaches your body how to fight off the virus,” the department states.
Q: How long until it takes effect?
A: “The COVID-19 vaccine is expected to provide some protection a couple of weeks after your first shot and reaches its greatest effectiveness after your second shot,” the Illinois Department of Public Health states.
This story was originally published January 10, 2021 at 6:00 AM.
