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Here’s what you need to know about signing up for a COVID-19 vaccine in Chicago
As Chicago moves into its next phase of COVID-19 vaccinations, here are some answers to questions on who can get the shots and where to get them.
Who’s eligible for the vaccine?
On Monday, Chicagoans age 65 and older and more than 300,000 essential workers became eligible for the vaccine. The group includes police and firefighters, correctional workers, grocery store employees, educators and transit employees. Go to www.chicago.gov/covidvax for a full list.
Health care workers as well as employees and residents of nursing homes and congregate facilities have been eligible since December and those individuals can still be vaccinated.
Where do I go to get vaccinated?
All vaccinations will be handled through appointments either through a doctor or other health care provider, a pharmacy or an employer. City-designated sites for mass vaccinations are currently booked up to provide shots to health care workers. At some point, they should be open for appointments for others who are eligible. More information is available at covidcoach.chicago.gov/.
The city lists several pharmacies where members of eligible groups can sign up to get the vaccine (as of Monday, some were scheduling appointments, while some said they would be soon):
• Walgreens at walgreens.com/findcare/vaccination/covid-19
• Jewel-Osco at mhealthappointments.com/covidappt
• Walmart at walmart.com/cp/1228302
• and Mariano’s at marianos.com/i/coronavirus-update/vaccine
News
10:35 a.m. 8 new cases of more contagious COVID-19 strain found in Illinois
Local and state health officials Monday reported eight new cases of a more contagious COVID-19 variant in Illinois.
The latest cases of the B.1.1.7 variant, first identified in the United Kingdom, bring the total number of cases in Illinois to nine, health officials said.
Officials reported the initial single case on Jan. 15 in Chicago.
The nine total cases range in age from 12 to 63 years and were reported in Cook County, officials said.
“We expected to see more cases of this variant crop up, and people should know that the best way to protect themselves is continue wearing a mask, washing hands often, staying six feet away from others and getting vaccinated when it is your turn,” said Chicago Department of Public Health Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady.
Read the full from Emmanuel Camarillo here.
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8:08 a.m. Amid COVID-19 shortage of doctors, other health workers, foreign-trained professionals are left on the sidelines
As hospitals nationwide struggle with the latest COVID-19 surge, it’s not so much beds or ventilators in short supply. It’s the people to care for the sick.
Yet a large, highly skilled workforce of foreign-educated doctors, nurses and other health practitioners has gone largely untapped due to licensing and credentialing barriers. According to the Migration Policy Institute think tank in Washington, D.C., about 165,000 foreign-trained immigrants in the United States hold degrees in health-related fields but are unemployed or underemployed in the midst of the health crisis.
Many of these workers have invaluable experience dealing with infectious disease epidemics such as SARS, Ebola or HIV in other countries, yet must sit out the coronavirus pandemic.
The pandemic highlights licensing barriers that predate COVID-19, but many believe it can serve as a wakeup call for states to address the issue for this crisis and beyond. Already, five states — Colorado, Massachusetts, Nevada, New Jersey and New York — have adapted their licensing guidelines to allow foreign-trained health workers to lend their lifesaving skills amid pandemic-induced staff shortages.
“These really are the cabdrivers, the clerks, the people who walk your dog,” said Jina Krause-Vilmar, president and chief executive officer of not-for-profit Upwardly Global, which helps immigrant professionals enter the U.S. workforce. “They also happen to be doctors and nurses in their home countries, and they’re just not able to plug and play into the system as it’s set up.”
