Cook County Opens Third Priority Vaccination Site at West Leyden HS to Achieve Equitable Vaccination

Forest Park, IL—The Cook County Department of Public Health (CCDPH) today announced it has opened its third Priority Vaccination Site at West Leyden High School in Northlake to serve several of the County’s 32 Priority Communities in its Vaccination Program. The site joins other Priority Sites in Summit and Lansing. Priority Sites are strategically located to draw residents from surrounding municipalities from the 32 Priority Communities identified earlier in the spring.

“Equity is our goal and we know in order to achieve this goal, we must bring the vaccine closer to people’s homes, particularly when access to transportation might be a barrier,” said Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle.

Residents may walk in to each site between 8:30 a.m. and 5 p.m. Although residents do not need an appointment, they are encouraged to guarantee their vaccination by calling 312-864-0591. Each site has a unique link for scheduling, listed here with the specific communities they serve:

• Summit Recreation Center (serving Summit, McCook, Hodgkins, Justice, Bridgeview and Chicago Ridge): bit.ly/2Qmopdy
• Thornton Fractional High School South, Lansing (serving Lansing, Calumet City, Chicago Heights, South Chicago Heights, Harvey, South Holland, Dolton, Burnham): bit.ly/3u6uYti
• West Leyden High School, Northlake (serving Norridge, Harwood Heights, Melrose Park, Maywood, Bellwood, Stone Park, Berkeley, Northlake, and Franklin Park: bit.ly/3eExkJg

“Through this collaboration between Cook County, local governments and schools, and community based organizations, we are confident we will increase access to vaccines in our most vulnerable communities,” said Cook County Health CEO Israel Rocha.

The Summit site, in its fourth week, is dispensing mostly second doses of vaccine, but also has a supply of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine for those 18+ who wish to be inoculated without an appointment. Both the Thornton Fractional South and the West Leyden site are offering the Pfizer vaccine for residents age 16+.

“Many vulnerable suburban Cook County residents have been left behind due to economic, social, or medical barriers as well as historically racist policies and practices.” said Dr. Kiran Joshi, Senior Medical officer and Co-Lead of the Cook County Department of Public Health. “Protecting our most vulnerable populations from COVID-19 is the right thing to do and protects us all.”