By Wyatt Dojutrek and Cassie Navarro
Ever since the first doses of the COVID-19 vaccine were administered in Illinois on Dec. 15, millions of Illinois residents were wondering how long they would have to wait to get vaccinated and where they could find appointments.
A COVID-19 testing site outside the Fox Valley Mall in Aurora, Illinois
For Aurora resident Kerry Shay, who wanted to get vaccinated before undergoing surgery. She immediately noticed upon trying to register, that appointments were both hard to come by and the window for signing up to get vaccinated was extremely narrow.
“I also think that enough wasn’t done by the state, county, or the pharmacies to get the word out with ample notice,” Shay said. “It seemed that the notice was too short which frustrated a lot of people. When the word got out that appointments would open on a given day, at a specific time, and kept count of how many slots were still open, it was easier for people.”
Enter Illinois’s mass vaccination sites.
With assistance from county public health departments, mass vaccination sites have been designed to allow residents from all across the state to roll up their sleeves and get their COVID-19 shots.
Most of these centers can give 2,000 doses to Illinois residents every day.
Mass vaccination sites have included iconic Illinois landmarks such as Wrigley Field and the United Center in Chicago.
Landmarks such as Wrigley Field in Chicago have been used as COVID-19 mass vaccination sites. (photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons).
At each of the mass vaccination sites, there is no cost to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, which made getting vaccinated all the more appealing for someone like Jim Featherstone.
Featherstone received the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine at a mass vaccination clinic operated by the Greene County Health Department in Carrollton, Illinois.
“I would recommend the health department mass vaccinations,” Featherstone said. “It was fast and closer than the nearest pharmacy that would do it.”
Residents waiting to gain entry into the Fox Valley Mall mass vaccination site in Aurora, Illinois.
Along with the COVID-19 vaccine being administered at no cost, many have also enjoyed the convenience of mass vaccination clinics located throughout the state.
Aurora resident Deb Navarro was one of those people, as she waited for a call from her doctor to get the all-clear to get inoculated. When she found out that a public mass vaccination site opened at the Fox Valley Mall, she opted to get the vaccine at the mall instead of the doctor’s office.
While getting the COVID-19 vaccine at the mall was more convenient geographically, Navarro noticed some downsides in getting the vaccine at one of the state’s supersite clinics.
Upon arriving at the Fox Valley Mall, Navarro saw a line that stretched throughout the interior of the mall and wound up going through the parking lot.
The length of the line outside the COVID-19 mass vaccination site at the Fox Valley Mall in Aurora, Illinois.
According to Navarro, the Fox Valley Mall mass vaccination site had only seven workers giving the doses into the arms of residents. However, Navarro said that the line moved pretty quickly and the process of getting the COVID-19 vaccine was smooth from that point on.
A view from the inside of a COVID-19 mass vaccination site at the Fox Valley Mall in Aurora, Illinois
Even with a line that totaled 1 hour and 45 minutes, Navarro knew that the length of the line was not the priority that day, getting inoculated was.
“Everyone needs to get vaccinated,” Navarro said. “And if I had to wait in a line to be vaccinated, so be it. If I didn’t, I could still be for my primary care physician to call.”
The line outside a COVID-19 mass vaccination site at the Fox Valley Mall in Aurora, Illinois.
Featherstone certainly agrees with Navarro about making the journey to get vaccinated at a mass vaccination site.
“It’s definitely better than dying from the virus or giving it to someone else,” Featherstone said. “In my opinion, only idiots wouldn’t get the vaccine.”