PEORIA, Ill. — The Peoria City/County Health Department Thursday provided an update on the area’s coronavirus vaccine supply, as well as warned against pandemic-related scams, during its weekly COVID-19 news conference.
Due to the prevalence of winter weather in the area in the past week, Public Health administrator Monica Hendrickson said the tri-county is waiting to receive a substantial amount of vaccine doses.
“Because of the winter storms and how we do week allocations, our tri-county area is approximately waiting on 10,000 doses,” said Public Health Administrator Monica Hendrickson. “This is primarily second doses, so we do still have a little bit of wiggle room.”
Hendrickson also added that individuals with appointments to receive their first vaccines will be able to receive them, but no other first dose vaccine appointments can be scheduled because of the limited supply.
“While we have limited first dose appointments, second dose appointments are still going strong amongst the tri-county area,” said Hendrickson.
The ebb and flow of allocation supply for first and second doses is expected to continue, but Hendrickson is hopeful that with more vaccine supply from Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson likely coming to the market soon, drastic allocation swings should be avoided.
In addition to Hendrickson’s update on the area’s COVID-19 vaccine supply, Peoria City/County Health Department Epidemiologist Tracy Terlinde outlined the contact tracing system in place.
Terlinde said all calls from the Health Department will likely come from the 312-777-1999 phone number.
The Peoria City/County Health Department may also use a Google Voice phone number to contact individuals, according to Terlinde.
“When you get a call from us, our staff will identify themselves as the Peoria City/County Health Department,” said Terlinde.
Terlinde also added the only information that individuals will be asked to identify is their birth date and their address.
Aimee Shinall, the Victim Services Coordinator for the Peoria County Sheriff’s Office, emphasized the importance of not giving out personal information over the phone.
“We need to be vigilant as citizens on what information we’re giving out,” said Shinall.
