WEST PEORIA, Ill. — The Peoria City/County Health Department announced Tuesday it has opened a “closed point of dispensing,” or “closed pod,” to ensure healthcare providers across the area are vaccinated.
Heddington Oaks in West Peoria is the first of these dispensing points, which is where Health Administrator Monica Hendrickson led Tuesday’s weekly news conference.
“For those entities that qualify for [tier] 1A and are interested in getting the vaccine, they can do it a couple of ways,” said Hendrickson. “The first is to send an email to vaccinerequest@peoriacounty.org.”
Woodford and Tazewell Counties are also slated to set up similar situations, she said. Information about those will be released in the near future.
Dr. Gregg Stoner, Heartland Health Services Chief Medical Officer and Peoria City/County Health Department’s Medical Director, publicly took a Moderna vaccination during Tuesday’s news briefing.
Following his shot, he made comments.
“The vaccine is safe. It’s been tested in at least 40,000 people, it’s effective, it works, and it is really our way out of this pandemic,” he said.
“This is the way to resolve this problem and get us back to normal, so I really encourage people to do this.”
Talking about how he felt after the shot, he quipped “there’s no microchip injected, there’s none of these conspiracy kinds of things out there, so please, please, please get the vaccine once you’re eligible for it.”
Hendrickson explained once an individual gets vaccinated, they receive a card which she called the “golden ticket” that reminds them of the date they’re due for their second dose.
She said the department was hoping to utilize Heddington Oaks for around two months as other pods get set up around the area.
WATCH — Dr. Stoner receives the vaccine:
