Suburban health departments are not working with the Illinois plan to extend vaccine eligibility starting Thursday to people under the age of 65 who have medical conditions.
Suburban Cook, DuPage, Lake, county health officials, as well as Chicago officials say the supply of vaccines is too small to allow more people to access. Many essential workers and people aged 65 and older still have difficulty obtaining the vaccine after becoming eligible a month ago.
“Given our limited supply of vaccines, we need to make a local decision that best serves the needs of our residents,” Lake County Health Department officials said in a statement.
The health departments have not given a specific deadline for when those medically vulnerable residents will be able to receive vaccines.
Other vaccine providers in those counties, such as pharmacy chains and hospital networks, are not affected by health department decisions.
Walgreens spokeswoman Emily Delnicki said pharmacies follow the state’s eligibility instructions and confirmed that people can go to stores outside their county for vaccination.
“When people arrive for appointments, patients must sign a statement confirming that they meet their state’s eligibility requirement for the vaccine,” Delnicki said. “Patients must also present a valid government identity card to confirm their identity when scheduling the vaccination. You can choose a different store in your county as long as appointments and inventory are available.”
The Kane County Department of Health has not responded to requests for information, but says it offers COVID-19 vaccinations to health care workers and essential workers on its website. The site directs people over the age of 65 to look for vaccines at clinics, pharmacies, hospitals and medical offices.
In Mount Prospect, Nancy Horton said the search for vaccine meetings for her and her husband did not come to an end after weeks of trying. She hopes the postponement of vaccine eligibility for those under 65 will release doses for her and others over the age of 65 who have been waiting since becoming eligible on January 25.
“Looks like we’re going in circles,” she said. “You look at sites every day and get the same answer all the time. It’s absolutely frustrating not to get information or something that looks like a hopeful note.”
Two weeks ago, Governor JB Pritzker announced an extension of eligibility to those with high-risk medical conditions for severe COVID-19 cases, including people with cancer, kidney disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and other lung diseases, diabetes, heart problems, weakened immunity after a solid organ transplant, obesity, pregnancy and sickle cell disease.
“We don’t have vaccine supplies to expand to (Phase) 1B-plus at this time,” Will County Health Department spokesman Steve Brandy said. “Hopefully we can do that soon.”
Meanwhile, state health officials announced 43,282 vaccinations on Tuesday, as the state received another 50,710 doses of vaccine. State officials said they expect 500,000 new doses by the end of the week.
To date, 1,664,128 people in Illinois have received at least one dose of vaccine, according to Illinois Department of Public Health records.
IDPH officials also announced another 27 COVID-19 deaths, as well as 1,665 new cases of the disease.
The death toll from the virus is now 20,330, while 1,177,320 in Illinois have been infected since the beginning of the pandemic.
Hospitals across the state treat 1,488 patients for respiratory illnesses. Of those hospitalized, 361 are in intensive care, according to IDPH records.