Here’s where seniors can get COVID vaccine in southwest IL and how to make an appointment
Illinois officials have released more information about where residents can find the COVID-19 vaccine in their communities and how they go about making an appointment to get the shot.
The details are available at coronavirus.illinois.gov. Gov. J.B. Pritzker said the website will continue to be updated as supplies increase and additional providers can begin offering the vaccine.
Q: Who is eligible for vaccination?
While supplies are limited, only select groups are eligible to receive the vaccine.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention made recommendations to states about how they could decide to prioritize people based on their risk of exposure to the new coronavirus that causes COVID-19 and their risk of severe illness from the disease.
Frontline health care workers and long-term care facility residents and staff members became eligible in Illinois’ first round of phased distribution, called Phase 1A. People in that group who opted out can still get the vaccine in future phases if they change their minds.
Phase 1B started Jan. 25 statewide. Vaccinations in this group are by appointment only. The following people are eligible in 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
Some metro-east health departments have announced they are prioritizing within the large 1B group. St. Clair County, for example, started with people who are 75 or older.
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Q: How do I make a vaccination appointment?
You can find Walgreens locations that are setting up appointments for those eligible in Phases 1A or 1B at coronavirus.illinois.gov.
As of Feb. 18, at least 24 metro-east Walgreens locations were offering the vaccine, according to the state website:
- 1650 Washington Ave. in Alton
- 2610 State St. in Alton
- 515 Carlyle Ave. in Belleville
- 5939 Belleville Crossing St. in Belleville
- 5890 N. Belt West in Belleville
- 172 E. McArthur Dr. in Bethalto
- 1201 Camp Jackson Road in Cahokia
- 1190 Collinsville Crossing Blvd. in Collinsville
- 401 Belt Line Road in Collinsville
- 100 Admiral Weinel Blvd. in Columbia
- 2510 State St. in East St. Louis
- 102 W. Vandalia St. in Edwardsville
- 6505 N. Illinois St. in Fairview Heights
- 2 Cottonwood Road in Glen Carbon
- 2001 Madison Ave. in Granite City
- 3732 Nameoki Road in Granite City
- 110 Walnut St. in Highland
- 6607 State Route 162 in Maryville
- 704 Cambridge Blvd. in O’Fallon
- 2532 N. Illinois St. in Swansea
- 1108 Hartman Lane in Shiloh
- 640 Edwardsville Road in Troy
- 913 N. Market St. in Waterloo
- 1122 Vaughn Road in Wood River
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.
Local health departments and hospitals are also facilitating appointments.
These are the ways to let a county health department or hospital know you want to set up a COVID-19 vaccine appointment:
- 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: County residents and people who work in the county can make an appointment through the health department’s online appointment scheduler available at madisonchd.org if they are eligible in Phases 1A or 1B. (If you don’t have internet access or need help scheduling an appointment, call the health department at 618-650-8445. Officials are asking anyone who filled out the health department’s online survey to join the vaccine waitlist between Jan. 4 and Jan. 20 not to use the appointment scheduler; the health department will contact people on the waitlist directly with the information about scheduling an appointment. The Madison County Regional Office of Education is scheduling appointments for teachers.)
- 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.)
- BJC HealthCare: Preregistration for a vaccination appointment is available online at bjc.org/coronavirus/covid-19-vaccines. You don’t have to be a current patient of BJC HealthCare to get vaccinated, but you do have to be a resident of either Illinois or Missouri. BJC will contact people to set up appointments when they become eligible and when supplies are available. The hospital system notes on its website that “it could be several weeks, or even months, before you are able to schedule.”
Red Bud Regional Hospital: People eligible for vaccination who live or work in Randolph County can join the hospital’s vaccine waitlist online at redbudanytime.com.
Memorial Hospital in Chester: Patients of the hospital’s clinics who are eligible for vaccination can sign up for the vaccine waitlist online at mhchester.com/covidvax.
Q: Do I have to get the vaccine in the county where I live?
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?
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.”
Q: What vaccines are available?
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: How much will it cost me?
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: What are some common side effects of the vaccine?
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?
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 25, 2021 at 10:58 AM.
