COVID-19 Community Vaccination Clinic
The DuPage County Health Department announced their plans to expand and relocate their COVID-19 Community Vaccination Clinic.
Starting February 10, the clinic will be relocated from the DuPage County Health Department to the DuPage County Fairgrounds located at 2015 Manchester Road in Wheaton.
This will allow the health department to expand its vaccination capacity as vaccine supply allows.
“We identified the DuPage County Fairgrounds as a preferred location for our expansion due to its central location, easy access, as well as the safety it provides our staff, volunteers, and residents being vaccinated,” said Dr. Karen Ayala, executive director of the DuPage County Health Department. “By moving the health department’s COVID vaccination clinic to the fairgrounds we will have the potential to administer up to 1,000 vaccine doses per day or 5,000 doses per week. These outcomes however are only projections until we have a vaccine supply to make them a reality.”
At the news conference, DuPage County board chair, Dan Cronin, expressed his frustration with the Illinois Department of Public Health.
“Despite repeated requests for information about the strategy to distribute the vaccine that is coming in to the state, we have not been able to determine whether DuPage County is receiving our fair share or frankly how the state is even deciding where the vaccine should go,” said Cronin. “While we are grateful for every dose of vaccine that gets to a DuPage County resident we cannot adequately plan when the state can’t or won’t tell us where they are distributing vaccine. Our own supply week to week is far to little and incredibly inconsistent. We cannot adequately serve our partners and they cannot make appointments for the public if we don’t know week to week how much vaccine we will receive.”
Officials said the county is receiving between 10,000 to 14,000 does a week. They’ve partnered with 96 local healthcare partners to help with vaccinating residents, however only 42 partners are currently able to receive any due to limited supply.
Congressman Bill Foster, Congressman Sean Casten, and Congresswoman Lauren Underwood were also at the news conference.
“The expanded community vaccination clinic here in DuPage County represents a tangible step toward beating COVID-19,” said Underwood. “I remain committed to ensuring that our community has the federal resources it needs to vaccinate efficiently and equitably.”
The vaccination clinic at the fairgrounds will be open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m by appointment only.
The community can register here to receive appointment notifications, but not to schedule an appointment. People will be contacted later with a link to schedule an appointment.
Expanded Call Center
The health department has also expanded its call center to support residents with vaccine registration and answer any questions regarding the COVID-19 vaccine. Those who don’t have access to internet, a computer, or need help registering can also call the call center at 630-682-7400.
Officials said DuPage County currently leads other metropolitan Chicago counties with vaccinating 2.88% or 28,000 people with two doses.
Cronin has set a goal for the summer.
“We will get 80 percent of the population vaccinated by July,” said Cronin. “This is not a goal, this is not our objective. This is our imperative.”
Naperville News 17’s Aysha Ashley Househ reports.
