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Here’s how to get a free rapid COVID-19 test in Chicago
Oak Street Health is expanding access to COVID-19 testing by providing free rapid coronavirus tests to Chicago residents.
The network of primary care centers is working with the City of Chicago to expand its free rapid COVID-19 testing, and has already completed more than 2,500 tests.
All testing provided by Oak Street Health is free, does not require an appointment and tests will be administered regardless of symptoms or insurance status.
“Testing remains critical to containing the spread of COVID-19 and keeping Chicagoans safe,” Christina Anderson, Deputy Commissioner, Chicago Department of Public Health, said in a release announcing the renewed effort Friday. “We’re grateful for Oak Street Health’s leadership and effort to broaden testing access to those who need it most. We remain committed to allocating resources and providing support to our partners who are on the frontline of this pandemic, working every day to increase access to testing in communities hit the hardest.”
Current testing locations include:
Testing hours are every Monday through Saturday from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.
To learn more about Oak Street Health, click here.
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11:05 a.m. Pence receives COVID vaccine on live TV: Will Trump be next?
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tests, will continue providing free testing (LIVE UPDATES) 2")
Vice President Mike Pence was vaccinated for COVID-19 on Friday in a live-television event aimed at reassuring Americans the vaccine is safe.
“The American people can be confident: we have one and perhaps within hours two safe vaccines,” Pence said, referring to expected FDA approval for Moderna’s vaccine.
His wife Karen and Surgeon General Jerome Adams also received shots during the televised White House event.
But five days into the largest vaccination campaign in the nation’s history, Trump has held no public events to trumpet the rollout. He hasn’t been inoculated himself. He has tweeted only twice about the shot. Pence, meanwhile, has taken center stage — touring a vaccine production facility this week and receiving a dose himself on live television Friday morning. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell both said Thursday that they will get vaccinated in the next few days.
Pence, along with his wife, Karen, and Surgeon General Jerome Adams, received their shots Friday morning in an office suite in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building from three medical technicians from Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.
8:32 a.m. Uber to offer 10 million free or discounted rides to people getting COVID-19 shots
Uber says it will offer 10 million free or discounted rides to people looking to receive the COVID-19 vaccination.
The rides include transportation to and from their destination for both the first and second doses.
A date for when the offer will begin rolling out hasn’t been set, according to Uber.
The ride-hailing app partnered with organizations dedicated to serving communities of color, including the National Urban League, the Morehouse School of Medicine and the National Action Network, to help target riders who could benefit most. And it plans to partner with other organizations in the future.
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Analysis & Commentary
8:03 a.m. Trypanophobia is real
I have tiny veins. So tiny that it usually takes several sticks before a phlebotomist can draw my blood. This has always been a problem, and as I aged, a bad situation got a lot worse.
Thankfully, my health hasn’t required that I have blood draws more than once a year in recent years. But, man, do I get stressed out when it comes to shots.
I trace a lot of this anxiety back to childhood. On “shot day,” teachers herded us like cattle into the auditorium. There we stood in long lines, with some of the children crying so hysterically a teacher had to restrain them.
Of course, the anticipation of the shot was a lot worst than the actual prick. But I still have to steady my nerves before I get a flu shot.
So you can imagine how anxious I am about getting the COVID-19 vaccine. I glanced at Wednesday’s front-page photograph of Dr. Marina Del Rios getting the first COVID-19 vaccination at Loretto Hospital in the Austin neighborhood, and I felt faint.
Yes. I’m one of those people who get weak in the knees if I even see someone getting a shot.
And I’m not alone.
