Chicago-area hospitals and medical providers are among some of the many places Illinois residents can turn to for a coronavirus vaccine, but each hospital will have its own plan.
As Illinois opens up doses to millions of frontline essential workers and residents age 65 and older, there are numerous options for residents to receive vaccine, though doses across the state are currently limited, making getting an appointment challenging for some.
Phase 1B opens up vaccinations to roughly 3.2 million residents, including first responders, education workers like teachers and support staff, childcare workers, grocery store employees, postal service workers and more.
Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker said the state is working to build capacity and hopes to see an increase in doses in the coming weeks.
For now, here is a look at the vaccine plans in place at several area hospitals and health systems:
Northwestern Medicine
- Must be a current patient in order to receive the vaccine
- For Northwestern Memorial Hospital:
- Vaccination plan prioritizes patients based on:
- Age (older first)
- Home zip code, with a preference to high hardship zip codes identified in Senator Durbin’s HEAL initiative
- "We are using this criteria to ensure a safe, efficient and equitable vaccination process for our patients," Northwestern said in a statement. "For example, last week we have invited established patients over 65 years of age from the HEAL zip codes and patients over 79 years of age from all other zip codes."
- Registration info: https://www.nm.org/conditions-and-care-areas/covid-19-resource-center/covid-19-vaccines
Loretto Hospital
- Open to general public who are eligible in 1B
- Vaccinations will be provided from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday, by appointment only
- To make an appointment, email Covidvaccineregistration@lorettohospital.org or call (773) 854-5421
Oak Street Health
- Open to patients and community members aged 65+ in Phase 1B
- Fill out form online, employee will contact you to schedule appointment: www.oakstreethealth.com/covid-19-vaccine
UChicago Medicine:
- Vaccinating current patients 65+ and will be using a lottery to notify people about when they’re eligible.
- This is in addition to vaccination of healthcare workers (those associated with the hospital system and those who are unaffiliated with the organization.)
- There’s no sign-up (with the exception of a sign-up for unaffiliated healthcare workers). Since this is for current patients, the hospital is contacting people as their names come up in the lottery.
- Lottery began with patients 75+ who live in 15 South Side zip codes. Then, it expanded to those who are 65+ in those zip codes. Then, the zip code limitation was lifted.
UI Health
- Beginning the week of Jan. 25, UI Health will start contacting current patients to schedule a COVID-19 vaccine appointment.
- Vaccine scheduling will be coordinated via the MyChart patient portal/app. They will also use email and outreach calls to "invite current-phase individuals to schedule vaccine appointments."
- UI Health will be administering scheduled COVID-19 vaccinations at Credit Union 1 Arena, on the UIC campus. Vaccinations must be scheduled. Walk-ins are not available.
In additional to medical providers, residents can also schedule appointments at Walgreens, Jewel-Osco and Hy-Vee locations.
Local
For a complete look at how to make an appointment or receive vaccine information for your area, click here.
The state said "additional pharmacy partners will be coming online and opening registration for appointments" in the coming days as well.
In addition, Illinois' Department of Public Health also launched a site for eligible residents to find vaccine events and make appointments.
“This site will serve as a hub of all vaccine-related information, directing residents to the appointment booking homepages of our 97 local health departments and our pharmacy partners, which will total hundreds of locations statewide," Pritzker said in a statement. "That also includes information on our first Illinois National Guard mass vaccination site, opening tomorrow at Tinley Park Convention Center, and will be updated as more state-run sites and hundreds of additional local options come online. As federal supply is currently limited and every state in the nation is facing a shortage, I urge all eligible Illinoisans to check back regularly for available appointments – and in the meantime, mask up, keep our distance, wash our hands, and remember we’ll stay healthy and safe if we look out for each other.”
