Coronavirus vaccination appointments at the United Center are no longer open to the general public, but are being scheduled strictly for five Chicago ZIP codes on the city's South and West Sides, officials announced.
Chicago officials said the appointments are going to communities "most impacted by the outbreak and those with low rates of vaccination," reminding that the United Center mass vaccination location was chosen due to its optimal accessibility.
Here are the ZIP codes that can book COVID-19 vaccine appointments at the United Center:
- 60649
- 60608
- 60652
- 60620
- 60619
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Some neighborhoods in the ZIP codes listed above include: East Garfield Park, Humboldt Park, Lawndale, University Village, Bridgeport, Brighton Park, Little Village, McKinley Park, Lawndale, Armour Square, Pilsen, Ashburn, Gresham, Auburn Gresham, Scottsdale, West Lawn, Wrightwood, Marquette Park, Beverly, Chatham, West Chatham, Englewood, Brainerd, Park Manor, Avalon Park, Burnside, Calumet Heights, Grand Crossing, South Shore, Longwood Manor and Roseland.
An online booking platform, including a voucher code, is being shared with members of these ZIP codes, according to officials. For those attempting to book without a voucher, the appointment will be canceled.
Vaccinations will be offered at no cost and insurance is not required, nor will it be requested at the site.
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Chicago Department of Public Health Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady said that some communities, such as North Lawndale and Humboldt Park, are already part of the Protect Chicago Plus initiative, which works to get vaccine to areas of the city that are under vaccinated.
Majority of vaccination appointments at the United Center mass vaccination site, she said, should be going to Chicago and suburban Cook County residents.
"We're aiming for 60% of the vaccine appointments to go to city of Chicago residents, 30% to go to suburban Cook residents and 10% to go to Illinois residents who live outside of suburban Cook County," Arwady said.
As of Tuesday, only 50,000 appointments at the United Center site opened to the public over prior days, officials revealed, in a major walk-back of their initial announcement that roughly 110,000 appointments were made available.
During a news conference at the United Center site to mark its first day in operation, Arwady repeated what officials had previously said, that about 40,000 Illinois residents over the age of 65 signed up for appointments during a special registration period exclusively for seniors from Thursday to Sunday.
Arwady said about 10,000 additional appointments were subsequently made available when registration expanded Sunday, for a total of roughly 50,000 appointments - less than half what officials had repeatedly said would be offered.
Officials initially said in announcing the sign-up process earlier this month that a total of 110,000 appointments would be opened to the public over the course of three days, beginning with the special registration period for seniors and then expanding to all Illinois residents eligible under Phase 1B Plus on Sunday.
But less than an hour before registration was set to open beyond seniors on Sunday afternoon, officials announced that eligibility for the new appointments would be narrowed from all Illinois residents in Phase 1B Plus to only Chicago residents in that same category, frustrating some waiting to book appointments at the new site.
