PEORIA, Ill. — Expanding on Governor J.B. Pritzker’s Thursday morning announcement of the “bridge phase” between Phase Four and Phase Five of Restore Illinois, Public Health Administrator Monica Hendrickson provided data regarding coronavirus vaccinations for the tri-county during the Peoria City/County Health Department’s weekly news conference.
As mentioned by Governor Pritzker, one of the criteria to reach this “bridge phase” is at least 70% of individuals 65 and over must have received at least one COVID-19 vaccination dose.
In the tri-county, two of the three counties have already met this criteria.
“For Peoria County, we are now over 90% of our 65 and older population who has been vaccinated,” said Hendrickson.
According to the Illinois Department of Public Health’s website, 91% of individuals 65 and over in Peoria County have been vaccinated. In Woodford County, 71.81% of this population has been vaccinated, and 66.86% of individuals 65 and over in Tazewell County have received their shots.
According to Hendrickson, the Health Department is expecting an influx of vaccine supply in the coming weeks, primarily due to Johnson & Johnson shipments.
“Our [vaccine supply] numbers are steadily increasing,” said Hendrickson. “We’ve had two solid weeks of increases in our vaccine.”
Because of this increased supply, Hendrickson said the tri-county will be comfortable with the increased demand for vaccines that will accompany open eligibility for all individuals 16 and over beginning April 12th.
With this open eligibility, Hendrickson emphasized that only one vaccine has been approved for 16 and 17-year-old individuals.
“I do want to reiterate to individuals who are 16 and 17 that right now there is only one of the three vaccines that is available for you and that is the Pfizer vaccine,” said Hendrickson.
If individuals are having trouble scheduling vaccination appointments, Hendrickson said the state has a call center that can be reached at (833)621-1284. She also said 2-1-1 is still providing local scheduling assistance.
