Local health officials are expressing frustration with the slow availability of the COVID-19 vaccine, but report they are now signing up those in the expanded 1B group that adds those under 65 with underlying medical conditions.
Salem Township Hospital President Kendra Taylor understands the public’s frustration as the hospital’s waiting list has grown to between 1,000 and 1,500 people.
“We have individuals that are so wanting the vaccine, that qualify for the 1B allotment but we didn’t receive any first-round doses last week, we aren’t this week and I don’t know that we will next week so we could potentially go three weeks without any new first-round doses and that’s a long time when you’ve got a list of individuals that want and qualify to receive that.”
Marion County Health Department Administrator Melissa Mallow says the state health department has not indicated when additional vaccine will be made available for first-round doses. She has not scheduled a clinic yet for the first shots next week due to lack of vaccine. Mallow reports the health department is receiving the allotment needed to give the second vaccines as scheduled. The health department’s waiting list now tops 3,000.
Mallow says Salem Township Hospital, SSM Health, and the Marion County Health Department are all currently adding the names to the waiting list of those newly eligible to receive the vaccine.
Governor JB Pritzker noted during a visit to Peoria on Wednesday that despite the slow rollout one in seven Illinoisans have received their first dose of the vaccine. He says about 58,000 doses are being administered each day, a number that could soon increase.
“Based on public commitments from the White House and vaccine manufacturers as of today, Illinois expects to receive an average of at least 100,000 doses per day by mid-March. Which means we are getting closer and closer to widespread availability that we all want.”
And the Governor says if the Johnson and Johnson version of the vaccine is approved later this week, states are being told they will see a 20-percent increase in doses by the end of March.
The state public health department reports 5,517 doses of the vaccine have now been administered in Marion County with 1,436 county residents, or 3.82-percent, of the population now fully immunized.
