The DuPage County Health Department (DCHD) is reporting that over 200,000 residents have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.
“Currently, DCHD and other local vaccine providers have created the capacity to administer more than 65,700 vaccine doses per week. These providers have been working tirelessly since December to vaccinate eligible individuals who live or work in DuPage County,” said a press release.
Illinois Department of Public Health data shows that 118,509 DuPage residents are fully vaccinated. That’s 12.76% of the county’s population.
This week the county is expected to receive 17,470 first vaccine doses, which is up from what they’ve been averaging over the past four weeks at 11,875 first doses.
COVID-19 Vaccine Doses Expected to Decrease
However DCHD is expecting first doses supply to once again decrease the week of March 29.
“Unfortunately, the vaccine supply we receive from the State each week remains unstable. This uncertainty makes our vaccine planning and distribution incredibly challenging. We understand the importance of getting this vaccine into the arms of our residents as quickly and efficiently as possible, but it becomes difficult when the supply allocated to us is severely limited. Thus, we continue to advocate to receive more first vaccine doses to match the percentage of our population in DuPage County—the second-most populous county in Illinois,” said Karen Ayala, Executive Director for DuPage County Health Department.
Vaccine Network
First doses are distributed across the countywide vaccine network, which includes eight mass vaccination sites operated by the DuPage County Health Department, Edward-Elmhurst Health, Northwestern Medicine Central DuPage Hospital, Advocate Good Samaritan Hospital, and DuPage Medical Group.
There are also federal qualified health centers (FQHCs), pharmacies, medical providers, and temporary community vaccination sites in this countywide system.
“We are confident that as we continue to vaccinate more people, including those who are most vulnerable to COVID-19, the transmission of this relentless virus will slow in our communities and help us save more lives,” said Ayala.
Ensuring Equity
DCHD said in the press release it is using The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Social Vulnerability Index (SVI) to ensure equity among some of the most vulnerable communities when distributing COVID-19 doses.
“The SVI ranks the tracts using 15 social factors, including unemployment, minority status, and disability, and further groups them into four related themes. Taking that information into consideration, the DuPage County COVID-19 Health Equity and Access Response Team (HEART) has supported these efforts and helped connect vaccine resources to communities and groups that have been disproportionately impacted by COVID-19,” said the press release.
For more information you can visit DCHD’s website.
Naperville News 17’s Christian Canizal reports.
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