Walgreens is offering coronavirus vaccinations in nearly 80 new locations in Illinois, state officials said Thursday.
The 78 new vaccination sites bring to the pharmacy chain the total number of locations offering coronavirus vaccine doses to 170 in Illinois.
Earlier this week, the White House announced a new federal program that will bring an additional 39,300 doses of COVID-19 vaccine each week to Walgreens in Illinois.
The additional doses will be distributed under a new federal retail pharmacy program, which was announced Tuesday. Illinois and Chicago are two of the 15 jurisdictions in which Walgreens will offer these additional doses.
These thousands of additional doses are in addition to the supply that Walgreens already receives through the Illinois Department of Public Health. Additional vaccinations through the new federal partnership will begin Feb. 11, according to the White House.
For a complete look at where you can get your Illinois coronavirus vaccine or how to get vaccine information for your area, click here
In addition to Walgreens, Illinois also announced the addition of two National Guard-led vaccination sites, bringing the total number of locations added this week to 80.
In all, 390 vaccination sites have been opened nationwide since the beginning of vaccinations.
More than 3.2 million state residents are eligible for vaccinations under Phase 1B, which includes people aged 65 and over, as well as “essential front-line workers”.
Current vaccination sites in the state are available by appointment only, but the state plans to launch access sites in the coming weeks, officials said earlier.
However, despite the added locations, Illinois officials continue to endure patience, saying the supply of vaccines is limited.
“As we work to increase the number of vaccines given daily, we are limited by the amount of vaccine available and allocated by the federal government,” Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker’s office said in a statement. “Vaccinations are only available by appointment at this time and we encourage people to return frequently for open meetings. Until the supply increases, there will be a high demand and we ask people to be patient. to receive the second dose while receiving the first vaccination. “