Do I have to get the COVID vaccine where I live? A Q&A for southwest IL residents
As Illinois moves outside of hospitals, health centers and long-term care sites in its COVID-19 vaccine distribution, some readers have asked questions about where they can get their shots.
While supplies are limited, the vaccine is being rolled out in phases to select groups: those 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 next phase, 1B, begins Jan. 25 statewide. It 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. In St. Clair County, officials say they will start with people who are 75 years old or older.
Soon, the vaccine will be available at pharmacies, state-run vaccination clinics and local sites, from school gymnasiums to workplaces. But are people limited to getting the vaccine where they live? Can Illinois residents go across the Mississippi River to St. Louis?
Here are answers to questions you may have about how mass vaccinations will work in the region.
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: 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: Do I have to get the vaccine in the county where I live?
A: It is not a requirement at the state level, but the Illinois Department of Public Health is asking people to get the vaccine from their home county.
That’s because the state uses the number of people who live in each county to help decide how many doses of the vaccine their health department will need.
But Phase 1B eligibility is based in part on occupation, and some people live in one county and work in another. In those situations, the Illinois Department of Public Health says it’s OK to get vaccinated in the county where you work.
Local health department officials said they have been working with employers in their counties, including school districts, to get lists of employees who are eligible for and interested in vaccination.
Q: Can Illinois residents get the vaccine in Missouri?
A: The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services says its priority is to first vaccinate Missouri residents, but it acknowledged via email that Illinois residents may be offered the vaccine in Missouri if they work or see their primary care provider there.
In St. Louis County, the department of public health isn’t specifically advertising to outside communities, but it won’t turn an Illinois resident away, according to spokeswoman Sara Dayley.
“Since the (Missouri) vaccination tiers are often based on job, it is feasible that people who live in Illinois and work in the St. Louis region may come to a St. Louis area location for their vaccination,” Dayley said via email.
“It is the goal of all vaccinators that we work to engage as much of the public as possible in vaccination with few barriers to access.”
The City of St. Louis Department of Health couldn’t immediately be reached for comment about how it will handle metro-east residents.
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 BND 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.
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.
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 21, 2021 at 5:00 AM.
