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With Thursday’s announcement that all Illinoisans 16 and older will be eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine beginning April 12, Lisa Gonzalez of the DeKalb County Health Department is still mindful that vaccine supply is low and the county still isn’t able to meet the current eligibility standards because of it.
“Obviously, I’m concerned about there being enough vaccine to meet that need,” Gonzalez said. “Having said that, as I have always done, as soon as we get vaccine, we’re then planning to push it out. So we usually get it allocated one week, use it the next week. That’s what we’ll continue to do.”
It’s a line that Gonzalez and her team have tried to ride since vaccine arrived in DeKalb County in December. The significant demand for vaccine with the limited supply, and no clear indication of whether more is on its way.
“So it may mean people are still waiting because I don’t have enough vaccine to offer appointments for the demand,” Gonzalez said. “That’s how it’s been since the beginning and I don’t see that changing anytime in the near future. If by the 12th of April it truly is increased, great, but based on what I’ve seen so far it’s sort of hard to believe that we’d be able to accommodate that number of people who would all of a sudden be eligible.”
Like many counties across northern Illinois, vaccine supply funneled from the Illinois Department of Public Health to the DeKalb County Health Department remains around 3,000 to under 4,000 per week. DeKalb County has a population of 104,000, so the group who would likely qualify as 16+ is extensive, Gonzalez said.
Gonzalez said she wasn’t told about the announcement by Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker until he made it shortly before noon Thursday, and while she’d “heard through the grapevine,” it could be coming, no indication of April 12 was provided to the health department before that.
“We’ve been really trying to stick to that prioritization very closely, but it does take a lot to do that,” Gonzalez said, addressing the expanded eligibility correlated with still limited vaccine supply. “It’s a lot of making people upset because they don’t currently qualify, a lot of reviewing the schedule for every clinic to determine if everyone does currently qualify. So at this point, I think our biggest challenge will be that we are just ready to begin starting Phase 1b+ and regardless of whether we’re ready or not April 12, then everyone will be eligible.”
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On Wednesday, the Illinois National Guard was deployed to DeKalb County to assist the health department’s efforts utilizing Northern Illinois University’s Convocation Center for a mass vaccination site. If vaccine were available, Gonzalez said there’s a potential that site could process 10,000 doses per week. Certainly over the 1,000 they were able to process prior to the guards’ arrival.
According to data provided by local and state health officials, weekly vaccine allotment still remains below 4,000 per week. At that rate, it could take much longer than April 12 to get through Phase 1b+, the eligibility phase currently open in the state, meaning those who qualify in phase 1b (certain essential workers, those 65 and older, first responders). The ‘plus’ part opened Feb. 25, and includes those 16 and older with health conditions making them at high-risk for a severe form of the virus.
Because of vaccine reductions announced Feb. 12, the county health department declined to expand into the Phase 1b+ portion at this time, and as such have also temporarily halted secondary allocations to Northwestern Medicine Kishwaukee and Valley West hospitals and the Greater Elgin Family Care Center in Sycamore, pending a long-awaited larger supply.
According to new weekly vaccine allocation data released by IDPH, the state has allocated 2,100 first doses to DeKalb County and 700 second doses in the most recent allocation this week. Gonzalez said she expects that delivery Monday. She typically submits a weekly order asking for a certain amount on Wednesdays, and deliveries are made Fridays or Mondays, with that vaccine shipment planned for distribution the following week.
“It’s all subject to change as vaccination allocation processes evolve at the state,” Gonzalez said. “[In the future], we do plan to offer clinic opportunities at NIU on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays with guard support, and focus on mobile opportunities Tuesdays and Thursdays as vaccine supply allows.”
What often comes, however, differs week to week, making it difficult to plan clinics and offer residents appointments with advanced notice.
“We’re planning clinics a week out, because we’re not really guaranteed further than that, so it does make it hard,” Gonzalez said. “If we were planning out a month ahead, then I would be risking having to cancel appointments if my vaccine allotment wasn’t what I thought it would be. That’s what we’re trying to avoid, because it’s already confusing enough, especially when you get in these sectors where it’s more difficult to get off work, plan childcare.”
Another hope is to utilize the one-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine hopefully on its way to DeKalb County, Gonzalez said.
“They’re saying that Johnson & Johnson in the next few weeks will become available,” she said. “If I had Johnson & Johnson at a really healthy amount, we could push that out pretty quickly and then I could feel much better about this opening on April 12. But seeing allocations on the level they have been, it will take us a little while before we’re able to move through.”
Vaccine administration remains by appointment only at the center, and those who need to register still with the health department who qualify under Phase 1b of the Restore Illinois plan can call 815-748-2401 to register if they can’t online.