Chicago’s top doctor announced on Dec. 28, 2020, that the city was on pace to have enough coronavirus vaccines available to protect all hospital workers over the next week or two.
During a news conference on Monday, officials said the city’s vaccination campaign had been a smooth rollout thus far and that more than 20,000 hospital workers who work in Chicago have been vaccinated. The city is also expanding the vaccination campaign to outpatient providers and people living and working in long-term care facilities this week.
Dr. Allison Arwady, head of Chicago’s Department of Public Health, said, “The rollout has been very good,” at the news conference. Arwady also added a caveat that albeit they have been making good progress thus far, they still have a long way to go.
The city’s vaccine campaign began on December 15 and is currently in Phase 1A. Almost all hospital-related vaccinations amongst their workers have been done; a few vaccinations have also been provided to paramedics, according to Arwady.
The city is now expanding its focus. Just before Arwady speaking at the conference, five people working at Esperanza health centers were vaccinated. This makes them the first outpatient health care workers in Chicago to receive the Moderna vaccine.
According to Arwady, the city will continue being diligent in making the vaccine available to health care workers who do not work in hospitals. Along with five other federally qualified health care centers, Esperanza will receive doses of the vaccine directly from the city beginning Monday.
The city is also setting up a mass vaccination site where outpatient care workers can make appointments to receive the vaccination; the location of the site is Malcolm X college.
Currently, there are approximately 400,000 health care workers being prioritized to receive the vaccination during Phase 1A and thousands of individuals in long-term health care facilities.
The city of Chicago anticipates health care workers will be vaccinated throughout January and February of 2021.
Written by Jeremy Banks
Edited by Cathy Milne-Ware
Source:
Block Club Chicago: Chicago Nursing Homes, Outpatient Health Workers Will Start Getting Coronavirus Vaccinations This Week
Featured and Top Image by Dale Davis Courtesy of Official U.S. Navy Page’s Flickr Page – Creative Commons License
Inset Image Courtesy of Marco Verch’s Flickr Page – Creative Commons License
