FOREST PARK, IL—The Cook County Department of Public Health today announced that suburban Cook County will move to phase 1b+ effective Monday, March 22, 2021. Phase 1b+ includes individuals 16 years and older with Cancer, Chronic Kidney Disease, COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease), Diabetes, Heart Conditions, Immunocompromised from organ transplant, Obesity, Pulmonary Disease and Sickle Cell Disease as well as individuals with disabilities, pregnant women and smokers.
“Over the past few weeks, we’ve seen great progress in vaccinating vulnerable groups in phase 1b, including our seniors. This is reflected in the numbers, which indicate that more than 68 percent of individuals 65 and older in suburban Cook County have received at least one dose,” said Dr. Rachel Rubin, Senior Medical Officer and co-lead, Cook County Department of Public Health.
All suburban vaccine providers who receive vaccine from the Cook County Department of Public Health are being asked to expand to 1b+ as well. Additionally, the state supported Cook County mass vaccination sites in the suburbs (Tinley Park Convention Center, South Suburban College, Triton College and Des Plaines) will also expand to 1b+ effective Monday, March 22, 2021. Until now, these sites were only administering vaccine allocated for Cook County. Beginning next week, these sites will receive an additional vaccine allocation allowing the sites to serve Illinois residents in 1a, 1b or 1b+.
Individuals residing in Illinois who meet the current eligibility criteria and are interested in traveling to a Cook County mass vaccination site should sign up at vaccine.cookcountyil.gov. Cook County Health will release new appointments at 12:00PM on Friday following notification of our next vaccine allocation on Thursday. Today’s announcement is timed to give newly eligible individuals time to sign up before the release of new appointments.
CCDPH will continue to monitor vaccination rates as it plans for advancement to phase 1c in the near future.