Seniors, shelters hope for vaccination acceleration
With Illinois entering the next phase, many hoping pace picks up
Robin O’Connor recalls growing up when children got polio, rubella, mumps and measles — and the lifetime complications that sometimes came with them. O’Connor herself suffered from the latter three.
So the 67-year-old Mount Prospect woman has an appreciation for vaccines, and is pleased to be eligible for the COVID-19 shot on Monday.
“We missed lots of school days back then too,” she said, recalling an era with similarities to the present day. “Our parents were terrified to let us go out in the summer in large groups or even to the movies.”
O’Connor is among hundreds of thousands of people in the Chicago area who will be added to the roster of those allowed
COVID-19 vaccines starting on Monday, but many will be waiting longer to receive their first shot, state and local officials have said.
Since the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines were approved in December, officials throughout the state have been administering doses to health care workers and skilled nursing homes during the first vaccine phase, called 1a. On Monday, the state formally moves to 1b, which includes people 65 and over, some essential workers and people in congregate living settings, such as homeless shelters and jails.
Employers of essential workers, medical practices and those overseeing people living in group settings have begun preparing for their vaccination rollout next week. Some express hope after a difficult year.
Others, though, are tempering their optimism. Some county health officials say they are still working through the initial phase, and Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Friday said that the state’s expected shipment next week of 126,000 first doses for areas outside of Chicago will inoculate less than 4% of those eligible in the new phase. “So there will be far greater demand than supply for at least the near term,” he said.
One doctor at a medical practice said the rollout has been chaos, with patients inundating their offices with calls while doctors lack information about when and how many doses they will receive.
Marsha Christoffel, 68, of Lake County has had concerns lately about when the vaccine will actually be available, even though she will be technically eligible Monday.
“I was optimistic until recently I heard that there was a slowdown in delivery of vaccines,” she said. “I am concerned for my children that it will take longer than initially thought. I have two young grandchildren. We want to keep them safe.”
Still, community members and officials look forward to increased access to the vaccine, which has already been given to some people in the next phase. And though not expecting an immediate increase in vaccine shipment due to the inauguration of President Joe Biden, Chicago public health Commissioner Allison Arwady said the new administration has promised more transparency.
Illinois had administered 616,677 doses as of Friday, with a rolling seven-day average of 24,190 doses administered, according to Illinois Department of Public Health statistics.
Christoffel echoed Arwady’s confidence in the new administration, saying she believes Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris will be more effective at tackling the pandemic.
“I believe that everyone is doing their best to get the pandemic shortened or over with,” she said. “I hope it doesn’t drag on.”
Vaccine still weeks away for many in next phase
Chicago expects to receive just over 34,000 vaccine doses this week , which will serve just a fraction of the 360,000 Chicagoans over the age of 65 and 300,000 essential workers who were added to the list of those now eligible, Arwady said at a news conference last week.
“We do not have anywhere near enough vaccine to vaccinate anywhere near the number of people who are going to want to get vaccinated beginning on Monday,” she said.
She suggested during a recent question and answer session that healthier 65year-olds wait a few weeks before trying to get the vaccine.
Still, they will be eligible to make appointments through their doctor. Appointments will also be available through pharmacies. Some health systems and pharmacies began reaching out to patients and allowing people to sign up for appointments last week.
Vaccine will be distributed
in group living settings, and some essential workers will be able to get vaccinated through their employer, though they will still have the option of going to their physician, Arwady said.
In DuPage County, officials said it will take 12 weeks to vaccinate people eligible in 1b. In Will County, officials said they are still working through the 1a vaccinations, but hope to start the 1b phase within the next week or two.
“We are encouraging people to be patient,” said Steve Brandy, public information officer for the Will County Department of Public Health.
A Lake County health department official said vaccinations will be given on a first-come first-served basis to the 240,000 people signed up so far on the county’s AllVax website, but pointed to a lack of registered providers to administer the vaccines and money to pay for associated costs as hurdles the county is facing as the state moves to phase 1b.
Kane County officials said they started vaccinating some essential workers Friday, and expect to expand appointments to more essential workers and those 65 and over within the next two weeks.
Health officials in many states across the country have reported vaccine shortages and shipments with fewer doses than expected.
A county health department in upstate New York canceled thousands of appointments for immunizations this month due to inadequate supply. The governors of Ohio and West Virginia have pleaded for more doses. Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot earlier this month called for an “exponential increase” in vaccine supply as well.
Meanwhile, employers are preparing to vaccinate those essential workers who qualify, starting with the highest risk people within eligible groups.
Health care workers began vaccinating staff at Cook County Jail on site last week, and officials expect to begin inoculating detainees “in the very near future,” a spokesman for the sheriff’s office said in a statement.
Chicago Public Schools said the district will start to provide doses to teachers in mid-February, amid rising tensions with the Chicago Teachers Union over the district’s plan to return to the classroom.
Keith Hill, president of the union that represents CTA workers, is encouraging employees who want the vaccine as early as possible to make appointments through pharmacies or doctors’ offices. So far, reaction among CTA staffers has been mixed, with some not yet open to it, he said.
Franciscan Outreach, which runs three homeless shelters in the city, tentatively expects vaccinations to begin this week at their shelter at 2715 W. Harrison St., which is housing about 200 people.
“It has taken a tremendous toll on the lives of our guests and shelter staff members,” said Executive Director Richard Ducatenzeiler of the virus.
Like many shelters, the facilities have experienced outbreaks during the pandemic, and staff members have risked bringing infections home to their families.
The shelters have tracking systems to help make sure residents receive the second dose, and they hope to use the same brand of vaccine across shelters so
residents can receive the second dose at a different location, Ducatenzeiler said.
“I expect it to be a very emotional moment,” he said.
Anxiety and frustration
For those seniors who are not receiving the vaccine through an employer, health officials have said they can talk to their doctor to make an appointment.
In some cases though, that has not been a smooth process.
Dr. Vishnu Chundi, who works at an infectious disease practice with offices in the Chicago area, said the practice has been inundated with phone calls, and in some cases, people seeking vaccine have shown up without an appointment.
“The volume of phone calls as well as people showing up in the office without appointments has led to chaos,” said Vishnu, who is also chairman of the Chicago Medical Society’s COVID-19 task force.
Vishnu said it has been difficult for doctors to schedule appointments, as many don’t know exactly how many doses they will be getting.
Martha Rodziewicz, 69, of west suburban Franklin Park, has held off calling her doctor, assuming that, like Chundi’s practice, the office has been flooded with calls. She did sign up on a pharmacy’s online app, and received some information.
“I know that vaccinations are probably going to happen more slowly than we would all like,” she said. “So, I am, like many people, thinking the worst and hoping for the best.”
Confusion seems to be amplified by the distribution variation across the country, and even across counties in Illinois. Chundi, whose practice has offices in different counties, said the lack of standardization across political boundaries has made the process more difficult.
Bob Gallo, state director for AARP Illinois, said the advocacy organization has been hearing a lot of anxiety and frustration from seniors. People don’t know how and where to sign up for the vaccine, he said, adding that not all seniors have internet access and fluency.
“I think there needs to be one point of entry where people get all the information they need,” Gallo said, noting that a toll-free telephone number without an interminable wait could be part of a solution.
Gallo also questioned whether there will be enough vaccine for the sizable 65 and up population, and is concerned about dashed hopes for seniors who are technically eligible but can’t get appointments due to lack of supply.
Christoffel, the 68-yearold Lake County resident, added that there seems to be a great disparity in terms of vaccine access across the country: A relative in Seattle is scheduled to get her vaccine in a few days. A friend in Florida already got her first dose. Family members
in the Pittsburgh area haven’t heard anything yet, she said.
“I think we are all losing our patience with the wait,” she said. “When I hear people aren’t getting it, I wonder why.”
Starting Monday, Pritzker said, Illinois National Guard mass vaccination sites, local health departments and many pharmacies will be taking appointments for those in phase 1b. He said the National Guard last week began operations at six mass vaccination sites in Cook County, and over the next few weeks about 25 more teams will be deployed to high-need areas.
He stressed that those eligible will need to make appointments to get the shot; when a “steady stream” of vaccine becomes available, the state plans to launch walk-in locations and round-the-clock operations, he said.
“Although appointments will be hard to get for some time, times will become more and more available as our state receives increasing numbers of doses,” he said.
Meanwhile, not everyone is equally eager for the shot.
While Ronaldo Ranola will be eligible in this next phase, the 68-year-old from north suburban Morton Grove said he intends to wait a little longer before getting vaccinated.
Ranola emigrated from the Philippines six years ago, and he wants to hear how family and friends in his home country are responding to the immunization as well.
“We’re going to see how others feel, if there are side effects,” he said.
But many seniors speak of weeks without hugging their grandchildren, and holidays spent without loved ones. They hope Monday will be a turning point.
“I have grandchildren who are growing and changing, and they can’t be with grandma,” said Karen Bushy, 80, of west suburban Oak Brook.
She’s eager to get the shot, but concerned about some of the confusion surrounding the distribution process in Illinois and many other states, as well as the initial slower-than-anticipated pace of vaccinations.
Bushy, who served as mayor of Oak Brook from 1991 to 2003, said she has tried to make appointments to be vaccinated at several local pharmacies, but all time slots appeared to be unavailable so far.
“I think we’ve got the right hand not knowing what the left hand is doing,” she said. “I’ll go wherever I can get the vaccine.”
But she is healthy, and has faith that she will eventually get the vaccine.
“They’ll get it straightened out,” she said. “I’m a faith-filled person. And I’m an optimist.”