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More than 100,000 appointments for COVID-19 vaccinations at the United Center’s new mass vaccination site will open this week, officials in Chicago and Illinois said on Tuesday.
Appointments will be open exclusively to Illinois residents aged 65 and over at 8:30 a.m. Thursday, Governor JB Pritzker said in a statement, noting that there will be two ways to register:
- To register online, visit Zocdoc.com/vaccine. The website is expected to handle a much higher volume of appointment requests. Zocdoc will display the availability of appointments in real time and eligible residents will then be able to select a date / time and book an appointment online. The date of birth will be required when making an appointment to confirm vaccine eligibility.
- To register by phone, call (312) 746-4835. To help bridge the digital divide, a multilingual call center will be available to help seniors make appointments. This call center will be available from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday to Saturday and from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday. Given the expected high demand for appointments, residents who can use the website should book their appointments online. Although the call center has 200 employees, those who need to use the call center will most likely experience long wait times.
Appointments will initially only be open to seniors for an exclusive registration period until Sunday afternoon, said Dr. Allison Arwady, commissioner of the Chicago Department of Public Health, in an update. Facebook Live Tuesday morning.
“Dating will only be open to people 65 and over,” Arwady said. “Appointments will remain open only for people aged 65 and over, Thursday at 8:30 a.m. until Sunday at 4:00 p.m. So Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday is the time at which if you are over 65, you know someone over 65, help them get a date. “
“Then, once we get to Sunday, if we don’t see all the appointments made by people over 65, starting at 4 p.m. Sunday, we will open up to people with underlying conditions. “, added Arwady.
A coalition of federal, state and local officials announced last week that the United Center will be transformed into a mass vaccination site as part of a new federal pilot program, which would open on March 10.
But Pritzker said on Tuesday the site would open on a limited basis a day earlier, March 9, with a full opening the next day. Arwady said the early opening was made possible depending on “how some of the resources arrive.”
The United Center site will operate seven days a week for eight weeks and will be able to deliver 6,000 injections per day at full capacity, officials said, noting that vaccinations would be by appointment only and demand would be expected. “to be high”. These doses will be supplied directly by the federal government and will not be diverted from the supply sent to Chicago or Illinois.
Arwady also noted on Tuesday that Uber is offering 20,000 free rides to and from the United Center for Chicago residents who need transportation assistance. She said the site’s first weeks of operation will be walk-in, but there are plans to add a start-up component in the coming weeks.
After the special seniors’ registration period opens Thursday, the site will be open to all Illinois residents – not just those living in Chicago – who currently qualify for vaccinations under the current Phase 1B Plus of the state’s vaccine deployment plan.
The state expanded the Phase 1B guidelines last week, opening eligibility for people with certain high-risk medical conditions and comorbidities.
The list of eligible high-risk medical conditions (which is subject to change) includes:
- Cancer
- Chronic kidney disease
- COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease)
- Diabetes
- Cardiac problem
- Immunocompromised condition of a solid organ transplant
- Obesity
- Pregnancy
- Pulmonary Disease
- Sickle cell anemia
Previously, under Phase 1B of the previous iteration, residents aged 65 and over as well as essential workers were eligible for the vaccine. Here is an overview of those who have already qualified for phase 1B:
- Residents 65 and over
- Essential frontline workers, which means “residents who are at a higher risk of exposure to COVID-19 due to their work duties, often because they are unable to work from home, and / or they have to work in close collaboration with others without being able to distance themselves socially. This includes:
- First responders: Fire, law enforcement, 911 workers, security personnel, school personnel
- Education: Teachers, school directors, student support, student aid, daycare worker
- Food and agriculture: Processing, plants, veterinary health, animal husbandry services, animal care
- Manufacturing: Industrial production of goods for retail, wholesale or other manufactured goods
- Correctional officers and inmates: Prison officers, juvenile facility staff, workers providing in-person support, inmates
- USPS workers
- Public transport workers: Flight Crew, Bus Drivers, Train Drivers, Taxi Drivers, Paratransit Drivers, In-Person Support, Carpool Services
- Grocery store employees: Baggers, cashiers, storers, pickup, customer service
- Shelters and daycare staff: Homeless shelter, women’s shelter, adult day / day program, sheltered workshop, psychosocial rehabilitation
As the state expanded its Phase 1B, many counties, health departments and hospital systems – including Chicago and Cook County – said they would not join the rest of Illinois in increasing eligibility, citing poor vaccine supply for those who are already eligible.
The United Center is one of 18 “community vaccination centers established by the federal government” across the country that the administration of President Joe Biden highlighted on Friday as recently opened or opened in the coming weeks, which will be able to administer a combined total of 61,000 injections per day at full capacity.
These sites, including the United Center, were selected based on a series of criteria, including the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s “Social Vulnerability Index”.
This index helps officials “identify and map the communities that will most need support before, during and after a hazardous event” taking into account “critical data points, including socio-economic status, household composition, minority status, languages, type of housing and transportation, “the White House said.
Chicago and Cook County have been identified as having a “significantly underserved and medically marginalized population,” the White House said, adding that the United Center is located in a “central and accessible” area with public transport nearby and great ease of walking.
“The site will serve up to 2.9 million people who live within a 30-minute drive,” the White House said, noting that 22,000 people live within a mile of walking distance from the arena.
“The United Center is one of the best places to vaccinate large numbers of people in America: it’s easy to access, sits in the midst of a medically underserved community, can handle large crowds, and is well known to many. everyone in Illinois, ”Pritzker said in a statement last week.
“I am deeply grateful to the Biden-Harris administration for working closely with us to create this high capacity site, and I am especially proud that we have worked together to put seniors first in this process,” bringing us even closer to ending this pandemic, ”he continued.
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