State Deploys Rural and Rapid Response Vaccination Teams to Lawrence, Macon and Fulton Counties

For Immediate Release – May 5, 2021

State Deploys Rural and Rapid Response Vaccination Teams to Lawrence, Macon and Fulton Counties

CHICAGO – As the state surpasses vaccination rates of 60 percent for individuals 18 and over and 80 percent for individuals 65 and over, the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) is deploying additional rural and rapid response vaccination teams to Lawrence, Macon and Fulton counties. The teams will set up one and done clinics with the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, following the completion of the CDC review.

Lawrence and Macon counties will receive state support from the Rural Vaccination Program, while Fulton County will receive state support under the Rapid Response Vaccination Program to address increasing trends of COVID-19 within the region.

Additionally, dates have been scheduled for return visits to 15 counties that previously received Moderna or Pfizer-BioNTech.  These counties will also receive an influx of Johnson & Johnson vaccine to be used during this second shot clinic to further increase the number of people fully vaccinated within the county.

“Providing equitable access to the COVID-19 vaccine to communities across Illinois remains a top priority for my administration. Already, 60 percent of residents 18 and over have received their first vaccine dose and the addition of these mobile vaccination sites will help expand access to even more Illinoisans,” said Governor JB Pritzker. “I encourage all Illinoisans to take advantage of the many opportunities across the state to get vaccinated as we power through to the other side of the COVID-19 pandemic.”

Rural Vaccination Program

The Lawrence County Health Department will host members of the Illinois National Guard to help augment vaccination efforts on May 5, while the Macon County Health Department will host the mobile vaccine team on May 7.  IDPH will send additional Johnson & Johnson allocation to Greene County Health Department this week to increase vaccination capacity at the local level.

Rural Vaccination Teams will also visit Clark, Iroquois, Kankakee, Marion, Jefferson and Fayette counties this month to provide second-shot doses of the Moderna vaccine.  These appointments were booked for recipients at same time the first dose was administered.  However, these counties will now have the ability to offer the Johnson & Johnson vaccine on a walk-up basis at this same clinic to anyone in the region who is available and interested in receiving the vaccine.

Rapid Response Program

To address signs of COVID-19 resurgence, the State of Illinois is deploying rapid response vaccination teams to Fulton County in IDPH Region 2. Currently, Region 2 is experiencing reduced ICU hospital bed availability with 11 consecutive days of bed availability under 20%.

Once activated, the Rapid Response teams are deployed to the identified county and supplied with additional vaccine. During these events, the Johnson & Johnson vaccine will be utilized.  These teams move at the direction of the local health department to augment the local vaccination strategy to quickly provide access to vaccine to residents in an area experiencing a rise in test positivity.

The State of Illinois is also announcing second-shot clinics for nine counties that were previously served by the Rapid Response Vaccination Teams during the Johnson & Johnson evaluation. Second shot appointments were made during the initial inoculation; however, these counties will now have the ability to offer additional residents the single-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine without the need for an appointment.

In Illinois, the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine is available to all Illinois residents age 16 and older. More than 10.2 million Illinois residents are eligible to receive this free vaccine at any of the more than 1,000 vaccine locations throughout the state.

To date, approximately 55% of people 16 years and older have received at least one dose of the vaccine.  Since the vaccine was first made available in Illinois last December, the state has administered more than 9.5 million doses.  Of that, the state has administered the more than 2.9 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine Illinois adults ages 65 and older.

These successes haven been made possible thanks to the tireless efforts of our local health departments and the continuous efforts of the Illinois National Guard.  To date, the Illinois National Guard has administered more than 1.4 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine.

State Mass Vaccination Update

Information regarding vaccination locations can be found at the state’s COVID website, coronavirus.illinois.gov. Residents who don’t have access to or need assistance navigating online services can call the Vaccination Assistance Call Center at 833-621-1284. The call center is open seven days a week from 6am to midnight with agents available in English and Spanish.

The state-supported vaccination sites listed below are open to all eligible Illinois residents, regardless of where they live, unless otherwise noted.  As a reminder, currently only the Pfizer vaccine has been approved for those ages 16 and 17.