National Guard will head to DeKalb County to aid in mass vaccination efforts, Pritzker announces

DeKALB - Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker announced Friday he will deploy National Guardsmen to DeKalb County to aid in mass COVID-19 vaccination efforts with local health officials at Northern Illinois University’s Convocation Center beginning next week.

According to the DeKalb County Health Department, the National Guard members will assist in a supportive role for the next 90 days in vaccine efforts, which will allow the health department to expand vaccine clinic locations with mobile on-site clinics.

“Local planning and partnerships with NIU have allowed the Health Department to offer several vaccine opportunities for community members, said Lisa Gonzalez, public health administrator.” To date, we have been limited with the number of vaccine available for our community, but we know the space allows for capacity of the clinics to expand as we anticipate receiving additional vaccine. We welcome the National Guard to our community to help scale-up our vaccination efforts as vaccine increases in our County.”

Gonzalez said the deployment will likely include two teams of about 18 guardsmen, who will work under the direction of the health department’s operations chief assigned at each clinic to help with sign-ins, checking on patients and monitoring those who’ve received a vaccine for 15 minutes after to ensure prompt response if anyone has a serious adverse reaction.

Pritzker said one in five Illinoisans have already received their first dose of vaccine, and the federal government is preparing to increase the state’s vaccine deliveries to over 100,000 per day. In DeKalb County, vaccine supply still remains limited, though the health department is coming off a three-week period in which weekly allotments were reduced by the Illinois Department of Public Health by 75%. Health officials still have not reported why the initial reduction occurred or why certain counties such as DeKalb were identified to have a 75% reduction.

“I’m proud to deploy Illinois National Guard teams and additional state resources to Vermillion and DeKalb counties to ensure local residents are able to receive their vaccines as efficiently and equitably as possible,” Pritzker said.

According to the IDPH, 24,472 doses have been administered to DeKalb County residents.

As of March 11, the DeKalb County Health Department has provided over 14,200 vaccine doses to people who live or work in the county, according to the department’s Friday newsletter. Through partnerships with Northwestern Medicine Kishwaukee and Valley West hospitals, and the Greater Elgin Center for Family Health facility in Sycamore, the health department has also allocated 4,200 doses through those health facilities.

Gonzalez also addressed DeKalb County’s vaccine allotment reductions recently, and confirmed the weekly shipments are on the up-and-up. In other counties where guardsmen have been deployed, such as Grundy, larger shipments of vaccine often follow.

“Hopefully what it will mean is that as vaccine [allotment] improves we can increase our capacity,” she said.

To date, four mass vaccination clinics have been held in the southern parts of the county and 18 on-site clinics have been held throughout congregate care populations, according to the health department.

“As an NIU alum and a State Representative I’m proud to see the modern facilities at Northern Illinois University being deployed in the COVID recovery efforts,” said Rep. Jeff Keicher, R-Sycamore. “I thank the Governor for deploying our National Guard to DeKalb to ensure a quick and efficient vaccination rollout for residents in the area. The sooner we get shots in arms the sooner normalcy arrives. I think that excites everyone.”

As part of the county’s Emergency Operations Plan (which existed as part of protocol prior to the pandemic), the Northern Illinois University Convocation Center was set up as a mass vaccination site, which also utilizes NIU trained nursing students and faculty to help administer vaccine.

There are now more than 900 vaccination locations in Illinois open to the public. While the state is working to increase the number of vaccines administered daily, it is limited by the amount of vaccine available and allocated by the federal government.

Other sites besides the health department that residents can sign up to get a vaccine include:

-Walgreens, 1340 DeKalb Avenue in Sycamore

-Hy-Vee Pharmacy, 2700 DeKalb Avenue in Sycamore

-Jewel-Osco, 220 W. Peace Road in Sycamore

-Jewel-Osco, 1320 Sycamore Road in DeKalb

As previously reported, until vaccine supply increases, county health officials said DeKalb County will not expand its Phase 1b eligibility in line with Gov. JB Pritzker’s announcement that phased eligibility should, as of Feb. 25, also include those younger than age 65 with high-risk health conditions.

Due to the size of Phase 1b and the current allocation, health officials ask that everyone remain patient. Everyone in Phase 1b will not receive an appointment registration link at the same time. Registering multiple times will not get you higher on the list. Registration is sent out to individuals on the vaccine notification list based on the current allocation for that week.

Information on local vaccine providers can be accessed by visiting https://coronavirus.illinois.gov/s/vaccination-location or by reviewing additional places to register at www.shawlocal.com. You can also sign up for an appointment at participating pharmacies.

Want to know if you qualify for the vaccine in Phase 1a or 1b, or how to register with with the DeKalb County Health Department? Click here: https://health.dekalbcounty.org/about/coronavirus/covid-19-vaccination/

Read more: Here’s where you can register for the COVID-19 vaccine in Illinois including pharmacy information