National Guard deploys to DeKalb County Wednesday to aid in vaccination efforts at Convocation Center

DeKALB – Mark Burton of Sycamore said all went relatively smoothly when he went to get his first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine Wednesday afternoon at the Northern Illinois University Convocation Center.

A diabetic with one kidney, high blood pressure and an essential worker at a warehouse in town, Burton spoke to the Daily Chronicle while he was waiting out his monitoring period and Illinois National Guard officers made their rounds to check up on patients. He said he hopes being vaccinated will allow him to do a lot more than what he’s been able to do the past year – including seeing more of his loved ones.

“My daughter, son, grandkids, stepkids, their kids – lots of grandkids,” Burton said. “I’d get to see them a little more often.”

Burton was one of dozens of people Wednesday to receive a dose of the Moderna vaccine, which includes two doses with at least 28 days in between, as the Illinois National Guard began their local deployment to aid the DeKalb County Health Department at the vaccination site on NIU’s campus.

Illinois National Guard Lt. Col. Luke Varner said Wednesday was the first day guardsmen were on site to help the DeKalb County Health Department distribute vaccines. He said there were about 50 guardsmen, including licensed medics, helping to register vaccination patients, administer the vaccine and monitor people for any side effects.

“It’s going extremely well,” Varner said. “We did training a few days prior ... so it went very well today and we’re ready for more.”

Vaccine administration remains by appointment only at the center, and those who need to register still with the health department who qualify under Phase 1B of the Restore Illinois plan can call 815-748-2401 to register if they can’t online.

Prior to the National Guard’s deployment, the health department had the capacity to service 1,000 doses per day at the center, pending vaccine supply which remains limited. With the guard here, that capacity will only grow, said Lisa Gonzalez, public health administrator for the DeKalb County Health Department.

[ You can now call the DeKalb County Health Department to help set up a COVID-19 vaccine appointment if eligible ]

With National Guard in tow, vaccine supply questions remain

Gonzalez said the health department is still vaccinating those within the 1B group, more recently including manufacturing and grocery store workers. She said the convocation center is now considered a guard-supported site as opposed to mass vaccination site.

“The guard-supported site could mean more vaccine for us, but we don’t have numbers at this time – it’s too new at this point,” Gonzalez said. “So we’re hoping that, as vaccine supply increases in the state, we’ll start to see more of it at the local level because ... with the guard support here, it does increase our ability to have more capacity through the clinic.”

As to when DeKalb County should expect more vaccine supply from the state than the about 1,200 they’ve gotten each week? Gonzalez said that’s still unclear.

“They just keep saying ‘soon’ at this point,” Gonzalez said. “So it’s a little hard to tell. I do think, we’re being told, that there could be more Johnson & Johnson available to the state at the end of the month, but I don’t know any more than that about how that would be allocated or if that would mean more for us.”

According to health officials, DeKalb County also recently received 1,170 doses of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine, which is also two doses but with 21 days in between. Health department staff said that Pfizer clinic is scheduled for Thursday.

What to expect

Those headed to the NIU Convocation Center for their scheduled vaccines can expect to get their temperature taken by health department staff before walking through Entrance 2. They’ll need to meet with guardsmen and provide their identification cards (proof of employment, age or health qualifications) to confirm their scheduled appointment and eligibility.

From there, patients will be screened for any allergic reactions to medications and will subsequently receive the COVID-19 vaccine if health officials determine they are at low risk from adverse reactions. After that, they will wait in a seated monitoring area on the convocation center’s indoor track for 15 to 30 minutes so healthcare workers can tend to them if they exhibit any immediate reaction to the vaccine.

Cindy Graves, nurse practitioner for the DeKalb County Health Department, said local health officials are more concerned about patients who have suffered anaphylaxis from any other type of vaccine or medication, whether it was given orally or by injection. Anaphylaxis is defined as a life-threatening allergic reaction that could include symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, skin rash or hives, shock and difficulty breathing, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“Not foods, not environmental,” Graves said. “It’s more to do with medication allergies.”

Graves said there have only been a couple of patients so far that have had to take Benadryl to help treat symptoms like itchiness after they got the vaccine. She said the health department has not had to give any patients epinephrine after receiving the shot so far.

Health officials said students within the NIU nursing program previously helped administer the vaccines during these larger clinics before the Illinois National Guard was sent to help at the convocation site. The health department might bring the students back if need be, but for now guardsmen will help local health officials give vaccines.

The health department is still only vaccinating patients by appointment only and there still are no walk-in vaccinations being given at this time.

Mary Cummings of DeKalb said she also got the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine during the Wednesday afternoon clinic. As someone who ‘just doesn’t do well with needles,’ she said the appointment went a lot better than expected.

“I was a little skeptical at first, you know, a little scared,” Cummings said as she was waiting during her observation period. “But this was like taking a flu shot.”

Cummings said she’s looking forward to not spending as much time cooped up in the house as she did in the past year once she’s fully vaccinated. She said getting the vaccine means being able to see a lot more of her two daughters and six grandchildren and living life how they did pre-pandemic – including going out to lunch and enjoying a big bowl of popcorn while watching a movie together.

In the meantime, Cummings said she’s stayed in touch with her grandchildren via Zoom and talks on the phone with them.

“It’s not the same as being there in person,” Cummings said.

Aside from some preexisting health conditions of her own, Cummings said she also decided to get the vaccine because she figured it would be better than just sitting around and waiting for things to get better.

For anyone who might be on the fence about getting the vaccine, “I would tell them to get it,” Cummings said. “I mean, if it’s going to help save a life, why not?”

Graves added she thought the Illinois National Guard already has been incredibly helpful on their first day at the site. She said she’s looking forward to the help in pushing out more vaccinations as more become available.

“They’re definitely here to support us,” Graves said.