CHICAGO (WLS) All appointments at the United Center mass COVID vaccination site are, for now, limited to Chicago and suburban Cook County only, officials announced Sunday.
As of Monday, only Chicago residents could make appointments because only the city s website was offering them. Officials blamed FEMA for the last-minute changes, which have left the city, county and state scrambling and many people very confused about what they re supposed to do.
Crews were very busy at the United Center Monday getting the site ready for Tuesday s opening as a vaccine distribution center. Barricades went up with new signage to direct people where to go.
When Will the United Center Vaccination Site Be Open?
The United Center site will operate seven days a week for eight weeks and will be able to administer 6,000 shots per day at full capacity, officials said, noting that vaccinations would be by appointment only and that demand was anticipated to be high. Those doses will be provided directly from the federal government and not diverted from the supply sent to Chicago or Illinois.
Can I Still Make an Appointment?
More than 100,000 appointments for COVID-19 vaccinations at the United Center s new mass vaccination site opened this week exclusively to Illinois residents age 65 and over.
If you were hoping to sign up at one of Cook County’s four mass vaccination locations, including the newly-opened Des Plaines site, it appears all first-dose.
Chicago got over 22,000 doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine from the CDC and is sending some of that supply to United Airlines and American Airlines workers at O'Hare.
Now, as cases continue on a downward trend with vaccinations increasing daily, there s hope. But that doesn t necessarily mean the parties can resume, Arwady said. We are in a much better place than we were a few months ago, right? You saw we were able to expand bars and restaurants to 50% capacity, some expanded hours there, but we ve got to keep the COVID precautions in place and I would just ask people - not the year yet for a big celebration, Arwady said. I m very hopeful that, you know, in a few months if things keep heading the way that they re going we are going to be sort of more and more open. We re certainly having conversations about later in the spring, in the summer if things keep heading the way that they re heading, but the middle of March is is not yet a point to sort of think that COVID is just over.