Weekly COVID-19 vaccination clinics in Warren County continue with the Health Department for those 65 and older. Recently, Governor Pritzker has expanded the Phase 1B group of those 65 and younger with underlying conditions can now receive their vaccine. Administrator Jenna Link stated they are remaining with their plan to continue to vaccinate those 65 and older in Warren County:
“In that Phase 1B group there is educators, there is day care providers, there’s food processing, which would be Smithfield, manufacturing, it is a huge group just in 1B. We took off the top our local school districts and then the 65 and older group. That was really the one we were going to focus on and then the Governor announced as of February 25th, they are going to the 65 and younger that have multiple underlying health conditions will now be eligible. As they also announced, in the next three weeks, they will not be increasing allocations. The demand already outweighs the availability. So we will not be moving to that expanded 1B. We are going to stick with our plan right now. We feel like we still need to make a pretty significant impact in that 65 and older group before we take any steps forward.”
On average the Warren County Health Department has received 200 doses per week to distribute. Link shared so far the department has received the Moderna vaccine, but due to allocation roll outs, Warren County will receive the Pfizer vaccine this week.
Beginning this week, the Illinois Department of Public Health has stated that local health departments and other COVID-19 vaccine providers will begin receiving a larger share of second doses to accommodate a greater number of second doses coming due. With federal shipments of the vaccine to Illinois remaining limited, this means providers will receive a smaller share of first doses. Warren County Health Department Administrator Jenna Link states the doses allocated to Warren County will remain stable:
“Because they are tracking that, they know who they have sent out first doses to and now they have to match that second dose and so in the next few weeks there is some pretty significant obligations for second doses. They are not getting more vaccines from the federal level either, so they have to meet those second doses before they giver more first doses. Many counties are going to start seeing a reduction in those first dose allocations for the next few weeks. Fortunately from what they have projected for Warren County, we should remain stable. So we’re not only going to be getting second doses we will being doing first as well.”
As for those that have received their vaccine doses, Link shares no significant reactions have been seen. Some soreness and other minor side effects have been reported, more so with the second dose than the first.
