Will County Board speaker pens letter to IDPH head about county’s ‘disproportionately low’ number of vaccines

Will County Board Speaker Mimi Cowan wrote a letter to the Dr. Ngozi Ezike, the director of the Illinois Department of Public Health, seeking an explanation about why the county has apparently been recieving a “disproportionately low” number of vaccines.

Cowan, D-Naperville, said in the letter the county appears to be receiving fewer doses of vaccines relative to its population when compared to other counties in the region.

“As local elected officials, we are asking for greater transparency for our Will County residents about how the amount of vaccine being distributed to counties is determined,” Cowan wrote. “It appears to not be strictly by population or based on vulnerability index scores.”

The speaker said she understands the county allocation of vaccines may be determined based on a variety of factors. So she requested those factors be made public “so that we and our residents can fully understand the process.”

Still, Cowan acknowledged that a lack of vaccine for everyone who wants a shot is the main underlying problem and that she appreciates the complexity of the issue.

“However, having an understanding of the process and metrics by which the available vaccine is being distributed would help us answer questions from constituents honestly and fairly,” she wrote.

Cowan also copied Gov. JB Pritzker and all of the state legislators representing part of Will County.

Her letter came after a discussion between Sue Olenek, the executive director of the Will County Health Department, and County Board members last week about the relatively low vaccine allotment coming to the department.

Olenek said it was “really unusual” for a county with nearly 700,000 residents to be provided with “such little vaccine.” She added she has asked the IDPH for an explanation about how it allocated doses to counties multiple times, but had yet to received one.

As of Wednesday, more than 156,000 doses of vaccine have been administered in Will County, according to the IDPH. The rolling average number of shots given per day in the county has risen to about 4,500, up from about 3,800 per day just a week ago.

More than 53,000 people in Will County have been fully vaccinated, which represents about 7.6% of the total population. That rate trails other nearby counties like DuPage, Kendall and Kankakee.