PEORIA, Ill. — The Peoria City/County Health Department announced Thursday it expects Tier 1B vaccinations to begin next week.
Tier 1B includes individuals 65 years and older, as well as frontline essential workers and individuals with comorbid conditions, according to Public Health Administrator Monica Hendrickson and UnityPoint Health Chief Medical Officer Dr. Samer Sader.
According to Dr. Sader, illnesses that qualify as comorbidities are the ones that put individuals more at risk. These include diabetes, COPD, chronic lung disease and any illnesses that affects the immune system.
“When we are talking about frontline essential workers, we are talking about a broad category,” said Hendrickson.
“The key to recognize about this group is that they are at a higher risk of exposure due to their inability to perform their work duties remotely and because of their proximity to other coworkers or to the public.”
Within the Tri-County, there are 64,399 people 65 years or older. There are an additional 40,000 people who would qualify for Tier 1B, according to Hendrickson.
The weekly vaccine allocation that the local health departments are receiving ranges between 5,000 and 7,000 doses per week. This allocation includes not only local health departments but also the healthcare community, added Hendrickson.
“We are currently working with our partner agencies, which includes our hospital systems, federally qualified health centers, as well as our EMS providers, on a plan and process to dispense as quickly as possible to our large number of residents as we can,” said Hendrickson.
According to Hendrickskon, many residents are eager to receive the vaccine, and the health department has been receiving a large number of calls and emails asking about the vaccine.
To combat the influx of inquiries, Hendrickson and Dr. Sader said health systems and health departments will reach out to individuals within 1B to schedule vaccination appointments. Individuals are encouraged to not call and instead wait for a phone call.
Both Dr. Sader and Hendrickson urged individuals to have patience with the process.
“We will call you. Just give us a little bit of time,” said Dr. Sader.
According to Hendrickson, over 7,000 individuals have been vaccinated across health care systems and local health departments.
Region 2 will enter Tier 2 mitigations on Friday, Jan. 15.
