Will County executive reflects on a year into the COVID-19 pandemic

Jennifer Bertino-Tarrant was in a fairly unique position this past year as she saw the response to the COVID-19 pandemic from the perspective of both a state senator, and now as the Will County executive.

It wasn’t until after Gov. JB Pritzker ordered all schools to close to slow the spread of the virus last year, when Bertino-Tarrant, D-Shorewood, realized how much life would change.

“Wow this is real,” she recalled thinking. “Who knows how long this is going to take?”

To her, like for many others, that uncertainty was what engendered a “bit of anxiety” over what was next.

Bertino-Tarrant said she had mixed reactions to how Pritzker and the state government responded to the pandemic, specifically with the public health mitigations he implemented.

Ultimately, with the benefit of hindsight, Bertino-Tarrant said she felt Pritzker did what he reasonably could to keep Illinois resident safe.

“Looking back, I think the governor, and his staff, did what they felt was right in regards to following science and making the decisions that he and his administration and the doctors felt was best,” she said.

In November, Bertino-Tarrant was elected to be the next Will County executive and took office the next month. That just so happened to be days before the Will County Health Department was preparing to receive its first shipment of Pfizer vaccines to begin inoculating health care workers under the state’s distribution plan.

With residents clamoring for information on when shots would become available to them, Bertino-Tarrant took a more proactive approach to enhancing the county’s distribution efforts. She said she had to develop a relationship with the health department and do more to improve communications with the public.

Since then, conditions have improved with millions of dollars allocated for the rollout and more mass vaccination sites secured for later this month.

Still, Bertino-Tarrant said the slow ramp up of supplies from the state and federal government has been the main problem throughout the process.

“It’s hard when you don’t know how many vaccines you’re going to get to really schedule (appointments),” she said.

County officials have also bemoaned the apparently low allocation of vaccine doses coming to Will County compared to neighboring counties.

In the coming weeks, the county will again have to decide how to distribute about $135 million in federal money to help local businesses, nonprofits and individuals. Bertino-Tarrant said the county will “find ways to ensure this money goes into the community where it’s most needed.”