SPRINGFIELD, Ill — The very first COVID-19 vaccinations in Illinois will be dedicated to hospitals and health care workers in the 50 counties, with the highest death rates per capita, Illinois Governor JB Pritzker announced on Friday.
"This will not be a quick process with the two dose timeline, no single person will be fully vaccinated even by Christmas, and it will likely be months before people with low risk factors for COVID-19 see their first dose," Gov. Pritzker said.
Pritzker said Illinois is currently slated to get 109,000 doses sometime in the middle of December. Which will break down to 23,000 to the City of Chicago and 86,000 for the rest of the state.
He said it will take multiple weeks of distribution to get the health care workers their first of the two doses that they require, while also getting to the long term care facility residents.
Major cities including Chicago, Los Angeles and New York will receive a separate direct supply of the vaccine as well, Pritzker said the federal government made that decision.
Dr. Ngozi Ezike, the state public health director said the 10 hospitals in the 50 counties with the highest death rates per capita have been notified they will serve as the distribution site for the vaccine. She also mentioned the federal partnership with CVS and Walgreens to vaccinate residents of the long term care facilities in the state.
