Another Chicago-area county is anticipating a steep decline in the amount of coronavirus vaccine available to those seeking their first doses, as Will County made the announcement that it will see diminished amounts of the drug for at least three weeks.
According to an email from the Will County Health Department, the focus will instead be on giving second doses to county residents, with first dose recipients being limited for several weeks as the county deals with limited availability of the treatment.
“Although enough doses are scheduled to arrive for those already having received their first doses to be able to receive their second doses on time, the amount of vaccine allocated for first doses is very low for the next couple of weeks,” the department said. “And for residents who registered on WCHD’s on-line information form to be contacted for vaccine appointments, this will likely mean more waiting and more frustration.”
On Wednesday, DuPage County’s health department made a similar announcement, saying that it only expected to receive approximately 2,400 doses of the vaccine that would be designated for those seeking their first dose. That is a downturn from the average of 14,000 doses of the vaccine the department has been administering each week.
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According to Will County officials, nearly 78,000 doses of the vaccine have been administered through mass vaccination clinics at the health department. That represents the fifth-highest number of vaccine doses given in the state.
The department still anticipates that it will receive between 6-to-10,000 doses of vaccine each of the next three weeks, with those doses allocated to individuals receiving their second shot.
It is unclear when the county will ratchet back up its administration of first doses to residents.
