When can seniors get COVID vaccine? Answers to your questions on southwest IL progress
In Illinois, seniors and essential workers will soon become eligible to get vaccinated against COVID-19.
While supplies are limited, the vaccine is being rolled out in phases to select groups with the highest risk of exposure to the new coronavirus that causes COVID-19 or the greatest risk of severe illness from the disease.
The first phase, 1A, started Dec. 15 with Illinois hospitals and health departments vaccinating their health care workers. Then, CVS and Walgreens pharmacies began administering the vaccine Dec. 28 at Illinois’ long-term care facilities, whose residents and staff members are also covered in Phase 1A.
The next phase, 1B, includes people who are 65 years old or older, as well as teachers, first responders, grocery store employees and more people who don’t have the option to work from home during the coronavirus pandemic.
State officials announced Friday that counties statewide will enter Phase 1B on Jan. 25, but it will be sooner in some communities.
Here are answers to questions you may have about vaccine logistics in the metro-east.
Q: Who is eligible for the vaccine in Phase 1B?
A: Here is the group eligible for vaccination in Phase 1B of Illinois’ plan. There are about 3.2 million Illinoisans in this phase.
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
Q: Which counties are getting ready to move into Phase 1B sooner than Jan. 25?
A: Officials in Clinton and Randolph counties say they are close to completing 1A, so 1B is on the horizon.
In Randolph County, Health Department Administrator Angela Oathout said 1B vaccinations will begin as early as the week of Jan. 18, after the county has finished vaccinating healthcare workers at its three hospitals and received approval to move into the next phase from the state.
Clinton County is also finishing up 1A vaccinations, according to Health Department spokeswoman Louise McMinn. “We are very close to having vaccinated all of them now,” McMinn said Friday.
It’s going to take longer in St. Clair, Madison and Monroe counties. Health officials from Washington and Bond counties couldn’t immediately be reached for comment.
St. Clair and Madison counties have nine hospitals between them; officials have explained there are just more health care professionals they need to get to. Monroe County doesn’t have a hospital, but its top health official says the small amounts of the vaccine it has been receiving is dragging out the process.
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Q: Where will I go to get the vaccine?
A: The state is compiling a list of locations online at coronavirus.illinois.gov.
Generally, people who are eligible in Phase 1B will be able to get the vaccine from some Walgreens and CVS pharmacy locations and state-run mass vaccinations clinics. More locations will become available as vaccine supplies increase.
An Illinois National Guard team is currently collaborating with the St. Clair County Health Department to open a metro-east clinic, according to Pritzker.
In addition to that clinic, St. Clair County officials have said the testing site at 330 W. Main St. in Belleville will become a vaccination clinic, but officials have not made announcements about when that will happen.
St. Clair County Health Department Deputy Director Myla Blanford said officials are seeking additional vaccine distributors. Pharmacies can contact the county if they are interested in helping, according to Blanford.
“The more people we can get vaccinated as we move into the 1B and 1C population, the better,” Blanford said.
McMinn, in Clinton County, said they plan to use school gymnasiums as clinics in the future because the large spaces allow for social distancing, a safety measure that includes keeping people at least 6 feet apart to help prevent the coronavirus from spreading.
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: How many vaccine doses is Illinois allocating to the metro-east?
A: It varies from county to county and can change week to week, according to the Illinois Department of Public Health.
The state agency said in an email to the Belleville News-Democrat that vaccine allocation is based on several factors, including:
- Priority population groups, which are not always equal across counties
- Whether the provider can administer all vaccine doses within the week
- Whether the provider still has vaccine sitting on its shelves before the next week begins
It is also dependent on the number of doses Illinois receives weekly from the federal government, according to the state.
Monroe County Health Department Administrator John Wagner said his county has received 100 doses per week, for a total of 300 to date as of Friday, but the state is increasing the weekly allotment to 600 doses the week of Jan. 18.
Oathout, in Randolph County, said they have received a total of 1,200 vaccines as of last week, with 500 more expected to arrive in the coming days.
Monroe County’s population is slightly larger, but Oathout said Randolph County received a larger share of vaccines because it has multiple hospitals.
Q: How many doses are metro-east counties administering?
A: The Illinois Department of Public Health is providing daily updates on each county’s progress to vaccinate its residents at dph.illinois.gov/covid19/vaccinedata.
The statistics related to vaccinations include the number of doses they administered, the number of residents who are fully-vaccinated after receiving two doses and the percentage of the population that is fully vaccinated.
Numbers can be delayed by as much as 72 hours, according to the state.
Local officials say their allotted doses are quickly used.
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.
Both of the authorized vaccines require two doses administered three to four weeks apart, depending on the type of vaccine.
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 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 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.
This story was originally published January 16, 2021 at 7:00 AM.
