Former Target store in Matteson opens as vaccination site
Rachelle Boone was the first person through the doors Wednesday when a new mass vaccination site opened in Matteson, but admits she’s among the last in her family to get the COVID-19 vaccine.
The Markham resident said her mom, two sisters and aunts and uncles all have at least one dose, but she had held off, mainly out of fear of the vaccine.
“I was afraid about getting the vaccine,” she said after getting her first shot at the new site, Cook County Health’s sixth large-scale vaccination location. “I hadn’t gotten sick and I thought I would be OK.”
“My mom was like ‘Why wouldn’t you get it?’ ” Boone said.
As she sat in a chair in an observation area after getting her shot, Boone said the experience “was better than I expected.”
The Matteson center, operated by the Illinois National Guard, is in a vacant Target store off Cicero Avenue and south of U.S. 30. The 126,000-square-foot store closed in early 2018.
When fully operational it will be able to administer almost 4,000 doses daily, according to the county.
It is using the Pfizer vaccine and the opening comes as the county this week shifted into phase two of vaccine eligibility, opening the door to all Illinois residents 16 and older. It also opened just as Cook County Health stopped giving the one-dose vaccine developed by Johnson & Johnson, following guidance from federal officials after reports of six women who experienced blood clots about two weeks after vaccination.
Cook County said it had booked 3,000 appointments this week for the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, and those people would instead get the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine.
County health officials, during a news conference Tuesday at the new Matteson vaccination site, stressed that the occurrence of the clotting has been very rare, noting that nearly 7 million Johnson & Johnson doses have been given in the U.S.
While Boone was the first person in the door when the Matteson facility opened at 1 p.m. Wednesday, Valerie George, of Cicero, received the inaugural shot due to a delay in getting Boone processed.
Even though they knew they were getting the Pfizer vaccine, the 51-year-old George and 50-year-old Boone said that they were aware of the pause in administering the Johnson & Johnson shot.
Boone said the news “kind of played a part of being afraid” of getting the vaccine, while George was eager to get her first dose.
“I couldn’t wait to get here,” she said.
George said reactions can happen with any type of medication, and that the Johnson & Johnson issue “didn’t discourage me from doing this.”
Cook County also has mass vaccination sites at the Tinley Park Convention Center and at South Suburban College in South Holland.
Vaccinations are by appointment only and can be scheduled at vaccine.cookcountyil.gov or by calling 833-308-1988.
The county said it is offering appointment slots based on supplies of vaccine on hand and has been adding appointment times as new shipments arrive.