COLLINSVILLE, Ill. — The Gateway Center will be a primary site for Madison County's COVID-19 vaccine rollout, the county announced on Friday.
"It's not an open clinic. I want to be very clear," Toni Corona with the Madison County Health Department said, "it is only for health care workers."
Currently, Madison County is vaccinating people in phase 1A. The group getting the vaccine is health care personnel and residents of long-term care facilities.
In a Facebook post Friday, the Health Department shared, "We anticipate Phase 1A distribution to take several weeks."
Madison County's Public Health Director, Toni Corona, says adding the Gateway Center as a vaccination site is part of the planning.
Beginning Thursday, Jan. 14, health care workers will be able to get their COVID-19 vaccine at the Gateway Center.
The general public will have to fill out an online survey before they can get in line. Toni Corona says the main purpose of the survey is to gage how many Madison County residents are interested in getting a COVID-19 vaccine.
"Turns out a lot of people in Madison County have filled out the form," Corona said. "We're finding that there's a lot of people that want the vaccine."
Madison County wants to prevent long waits and lines like what has happened recently in Florida. Corona says that is "absolutely the last situation that we want here."
Her hope is that the Madison County Health Department can formulate a plan for easy and safe distribution.
The Gateway Center will be the main campus for vaccine distribution, but the health department plans to add more sites as vaccine becomes more available.
Corona asks people who have filled out to the online vaccination form to be patient and monitor their website for updates.
5 On Your Side followed up with additional counties to see if they have plans for large venues, like the Gateway Center, as part of their vaccination set ups.
St. Louis County said they will likely use multiple venues, but have not made decisions on which ones.
St. Charles County says when it receives enough vaccine to have a large scale vaccination event, they plan to use the Family Arena.
Jefferson County said it is still in the planning phases and are working to determine specific sites.