How To Get Updates On COVID-19 Vaccine In McHenry County
MCHENRY COUNTY, IL — The McHenry County Department of Health has not received its first allotment of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine but is ready to start doling it out once it arrives, health officials said Tuesday morning.
The first groups who will receive the vaccine will be front-line health care workers and long-term care residents and staff. That process could take several months as there are 654,598 frontline health care workers and 109,227 residents in long-term care facilities in Illinois.
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The vaccines are being doled out first to counties with the highest death rates, and McHenry County is not on that list. Chicago and local health departments in Cook, Lake, Madison and St. Clair counties will be among the agencies to receive direct shipments this week. The first doses have been allocated to regional hospital centers across the state.
State health officials are following guidance provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and approved by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices regarding who should get the vaccine and when, said Gov. J.B. Pritzker late last week while detailing the state's plans for prioritizing the vaccinations.
McHenry County Health Department officials said after health care workers and long-term care staff and residents, the following priority groups have been recommended for vaccination:
Phase 1b: Essential front-line workers, which could include those in the education sector, food and agriculture, utilities, police, firefighters, corrections officers and transportation workers.
Phase 1c: Adults with high-risk medical conditions and adults 65 years and older who do not reside in a long-term care facility.
It is possible the health department will need to prioritize further within those groups based on the demand for vaccines and community needs specific to McHenry County.
"Because vaccines are limited and we do not know how many vaccines we will receive in the coming months, we will need to make very difficult decisions about who will be prioritized within each of these groups," said MCDH nursing director Susan Karras. "We all want to get back to normal, and with everyone's patience and cooperation, the vaccine is offering us this opportunity. Even though it is distant, there is now a light at the end of the tunnel."
Once the vaccine is here, the McHenry County Health Department will use an electronic registration format to ensure vaccines are being provided as safely as possible — the Pfizer vaccine requires two shots. The Moderna vaccine, if approved, also requires two shots.
Health officials suggest signing up for the McHenry County Department of Health's email notifications in order to receive updates on when the public can register for the vaccine. Anyone signed up for the emails will receive event updates and news releases.
On Monday, Illinois received about 43,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine at the Illinois Strategic National Stockpile, Gov. J.B. Pritzker said in a tweet. A total of 109,000 vaccines are expected to be sent to Illinois this week.
Some Chicago-area hospitals will dole out their first vaccines on Tuesday. Many more are planning to start vaccinating staff on Wednesday. The Loretto Hospital, a 122-bed medical facility on Chicago's west side, will be the city's first hospital to administer the COVID-19 vaccine, according to the Chicago Tribune.
Sources told the newspaper the hospital was picked to be first because it has been caring for communities hardest hit by the virus, and it treats all — even if they are unable to pay for care or are uninsured.
Northwestern Medicine hospitals planned to start vaccinating its workforce by mid-week or sooner, Christopher King, director for media relations and communications, told Patch in an email response.
The vaccine is not mandatory for employees.
"[W]e will be taking a tiered approach to vaccinating our workforce with employees working in COVID-19 units or with COVID positive patients being in the first grouping," he said.
Saint Alexius Medical Center in Hoffman Estates is expected to be the first AMITA Health hospital to administer a COVID-19 vaccine. That could happen on Wednesday, said Olga Solares, assistant vice president for communications and media relations with Amita Health.
On Monday, Advocate Aurora Health began to receive its first shipments of the vaccine at their distribution sites. Advocate Christ Hospital and Medical Center in Oak Lawn and Advocate Sherman Hospital in Elgin are both among the state's 10 distribution sites.
"This is a major milestone that marks the beginning of the end of the pandemic," said LeeAnn Betz, manager for public affairs with Advocate Aurora System, on Monday.
The first vaccines will be dedicated to hospitals and health care workers in the 50 counties in Illinois with the highest death rates per capita, Pritzker said Friday. They will be shipped by the state to the 10 hospitals serving as distribution sites. And from there, health departments in counties across the state will be tasked with working with the hospitals to get the vaccines out locally. All health departments were required to submit a plan to the state regarding how they will handle distribution, Pritzker said.
Even as the vaccine is rolled out, masking, keeping your distance from others and practicing good hygiene will be necessary until most people are vaccinated, top doctors with Advocate said Thursday. Education over the safety of the vaccine will be key in ensuring mass vaccination, they added.
"If you have the vaccine you may not get sick, but you could pass it along to someone. These measures will be around for several months until we have herd immunity," Robert Citronberg, executive medical director of infectious disease and prevention for Advocate Aurora Health, said during a press conference on Thursday.
To achieve herd immunity, a minimum of 70 percent of the population must receive the vaccine.
This article originally appeared on the Crystal Lake-Cary Patch
