November 23, 2024
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DuPage County receives largest allocation of COVID-19 vaccine

By Suburban Life Media
Covid-19 vaccine syringes sit on a tray ready to be used during a vaccination event at the Schreiber Center for Human Services in Round Lake. The event was sponsored by the Lake County Health Department, Catholic Charities and the Doctors Test Centers. Every Saturday from 10-4 p.m. vaccinations will be available by appointment only. (4/10/21)

(Candace H.Johnson)

The DuPage County Health Department [DCHD] this week will receive its largest COVID-19 vaccine allocation to date, with 44,090 first vaccine doses, according to a DCHD news release.

This tops the previous weekly record high of 23,875 first doses received by DuPage County in January. The notable increase in vaccine doses will allow the DCHD to allocate vaccine to all its vaccine provider partners and help further expand access to COVID-19 vaccine for DuPage County residents.

“After weeks of advocating to receive more first dose vaccines, DuPage County is extremely grateful to our State partners to receive a significantly larger vaccine allocation this week. This allocation will allow DCHD to distribute vaccine to all of our provider partners and create additional vaccination appointments for residents to conveniently access,” Karen Ayala, executive director of the DuPage County Health Department, said in the release.”With the recent increase in cases and hospitalization across our county, it is crucial that everyone who wants a vaccine, has the ability to get vaccinated as quickly as possible.”

Last week, the DCHD received 43,790 first vaccine doses, which was an increase of 23,790 doses from the prior week. From this allocation, 16,170 doses were distributed to medical practices, 2,000 doses to home health providers, 1,500 doses were distributed to occupational health centers, 11,360 doses were distributed to hospitals, 1,400 doses were distributed to pharmacies, 1,970 doses were distributed to federally qualified health centers, 1,200 doses were distributed to urgent care centers, and 8,190 doses are supplying the DCHD Community Vaccination Clinic, the release stated.

Until now, the average weekly vaccine supply to DCHD has been about 14,000 first doses per week and has not been enough to provide doses to all the providers in this network. The DCHD and other local vaccine providers have created the capacity to administer more than 65,700 vaccine doses per week through a number of different sites. These providers have been working tirelessly since December to vaccinate eligible individuals as quickly and equitably as possible.

For county-specific vaccine data, including first dose allocations by week and allocations by provider type, view the COVID-19 dashboard at www.dupagehealth.org/covid19data. Additional COVID-19 vaccine information about local efforts, frequently asked questions, vaccination data, and more is available at www.dupagehealth.org/covid19vaccine.

DuPage County