Will County officials want answers on relatively low vaccine allocation from state

Will County officials want to know more about why local providers have received so few COVID-19 vaccine doses relative to the county’s population.

Sue Olenek, the executive director of the Will County Health Department, told members of the Will County Board Public Health & Safety Committee last Wednesday about the apparent discrepancy.

“With Will County being an extremely high-population county in Illinois, it’s really unusual that we would be provided with such little vaccine,” she said.

Will County has a population of about 690,000.

When member Rachel Ventura, D-Joliet, asked if she had ever received an explanation for the relatively low allotment, Olenek said she had not.

“I’ve asked that question of the (Illinois Department of Public Health) more than once,” Olenek said.

Olenek added that she had reached out to her counterpart in DuPage County and learned they’ve received larger shipments relative to their population. Even though DuPage County has a larger population than Will County, by more than 200,000 people, it’s managed to vaccinate a higher percentage of its residents.

Olenek said the IDPH has not shared how it calculates the number of vaccine doses each county receives.

Will County Board Speaker Mimi Cowan, D-Naperville, said she was drafting a letter asking for an explanation from the IDPH, Gov. JB Pritzker’s office and local state legislators.

“We’re just seeking to understand how the allocations are being made,” she said. “Maybe there is a logical reason for that. We’d like to know what it is.”

On average, providers in Will County have been administering about 3,500 vaccines on a rolling daily basis, according to the IDPH. In Lake County, which has a population of around 700,000, the rolling average is about 4,300 per day. In DuPage, it’s about 6,500 per day.

In total, more than 133,000 shots have been administered in Will County. Just over 40,000 people have been fully vaccinated, which represents about 5.8% of the county’s total population.

Will County officials have discussed the possibility of the National Guard coming to assist at a new mass vaccination clinic and two sites in Romeoville are being considered for use.

Despite continued frustrations with the vaccine rollout, the South Suburban Region’s COVID-19 test positivity has ticked down to just under 4%.

The region, which includes Will and Kankakee counties, had a rolling average positivity rate of 3.9% as of March. 2, according to the IDPH.

Will County’s positivity rate was 4.1% as of March 2 after dipping briefly to as low as 3.7 in late February.