Updated 3/8/2021 7:38 PM
Hundreds of senior citizens, some riding in wheelchairs, lined up at the Itasca Park District Fitness Center on Monday to receive their first COVID-19 vaccines.
The average age of the 800 recipients was 76, including two Ethel Schwolow and Josephina Suazo who were 100 years old.
Everything was handled professionally, Schwolow said after receiving her vaccine. It all moved perfectly, and nobody wasted any time. I am happy to receive it and I feel great right now.
The Itasca Park District led the event. Volunteers from Itasca Community Library and the Roselle, Bloomingdale, Medinah, and Wood Dale park districts coordinated with each other in the effort and to help with the site s operations.
Illinois hit a single-day low for COVID-19 fatalities not seen since September with five more deaths from the respiratory disease, the Illinois Department of Public Health reported Monday, as new cases reached 1,182.
Updated 3/6/2021 8:19 AM
Tom Bucalo doesn t mind being one of the first in the state to get Johnson & Johnson s COVID-19 vaccine.
The Hoffman Estates man said he was hoping to get the single-dose vaccine when he secured an appointment slot for Friday s opening day of the Cook County Health System s mass vaccination site in Des Plaines.
Getting an appointment yesterday was a challenge. It was like getting tickets to a rock concert, Bucalo said. But I was hoping for (Johnson & Johnson). It s one shot, and I was more confident in what they were saying for the future, meaning the other variants.