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UPDATE 02/13/21 9 AM: Tri-County Health Departments say they are cutting immunization appointments as the state dramatically cuts COVID-19 vaccine allowance over the next few weeks – but the governor’s office says this is not not quite the case.
Peoria County expects just 500 doses per week for the next two weeks from the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) and 1,000 during the week of Feb. 28 through March 6. The county has regularly received about 2,000 doses per week since the vaccines. first launched in December.
Tazewell County will receive 400 doses per week for the next two weeks, and 800 from February 28 to March 6. Woodford County will only receive 200 vaccines over the next two weeks and 300 from February 28 to March 6.
“The Illinois Department of Public Health’s vaccine allocation to local health departments has been reduced over the next two weeks. Reduced vaccine shipments reduce the number of appointments available to schedule,” reads -on in a joint release from Tri-County Health Services.
Due to the cut in allocations, the health departments in these counties have said they will not expand immunization group 1B to include people with co-morbidities such as cancer, diabetes and heart problems as long as they are they will not be convinced of a more consistent supply.
Governor JB Pritzker announced on Wednesday that he was extending 1B eligibility to these groups from February 25.
But on Friday night, the governor’s office pushed back figures released by local health services.
“Counties are getting the same or more doses than in previous weeks. The only difference is which doses are first doses and which are second doses,” a spokesperson for the governor said. “In the coming weeks, the first wave of people who received vaccines will need their second doses. Allowances will therefore have to ensure their coverage. The total number of doses for counties has not been reduced.”
WCBU also contacted IDPH for more information on the reasons for the reduction in vaccine allocations.
“As vaccine rollout continues, more doses need to be used for second doses, therefore the number of first doses needs to decrease for counties statewide,” IDPH responded in an e-mailed statement to questions posed by a WCBU reporter.
Earlier this week, Peoria / County City Health Department Administrator Monica Hendrickson said the local health system has the capacity to do up to 15,000 vaccinations per week. The main stumbling block to quickly picking up the pace remains the limited supply of vaccines, she said.
The number of appointments available to schedule for those in current Wave 1A and 1B will be reduced, but the Tazewell County Health Department said all confirmed appointments should still expect a vaccination.
As of Thursday, Peoria County had 7,360 vaccines in inventory. This included 3,510 in the Department of Health and 3,850 more in community partners, such as hospitals and Heartland Health Services. Tazewell County had 1,490 vaccines in inventory. Woodford had 1,240.
U.S. Representative Cheri Bustos, D-Moline, told reporters on Wednesday that the federal government will soon roll out a vaccine allocation forecasting system three weeks in advance, instead of the week that was the current norm.
Health services are asking residents to continue to wear masks, social distances and frequent hand washing.
This story will be updated.
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