{"id":2860,"date":"2021-04-21T12:30:47","date_gmt":"2021-04-21T17:30:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/com.bradley.edu\/newslab\/?p=2860"},"modified":"2021-04-21T12:30:47","modified_gmt":"2021-04-21T17:30:47","slug":"illinois-mass-vaccination-sites-begin-inoculating-residents","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/com.bradley.edu\/newslab\/2021\/04\/21\/illinois-mass-vaccination-sites-begin-inoculating-residents\/","title":{"rendered":"Illinois mass vaccination sites begin inoculating residents"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Wyatt Dojutrek and Cassie Navarro<\/p>\n

Ever since the <\/span>first doses of the COVID-19 vaccine were administered in Illinois on Dec. 15<\/span><\/a>, millions of Illinois residents were wondering how long they would have to wait to get vaccinated and where they could find appointments.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

A COVID-19 testing site outside the Fox Valley Mall in Aurora, Illinois<\/p><\/div>\n

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.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI also think that enough wasn\u2019t done by the state, county, or the pharmacies to get the word out with ample notice,\u201d Shay said. \u201cIt 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.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Enter <\/span>Illinois\u2019s mass vaccination sites.<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

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.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Most of these centers can give 2,000 doses to Illinois residents every day.<\/span><\/p>\n

Mass vaccination sites have included iconic Illinois landmarks such as <\/span>Wrigley Field<\/span><\/a> and the United Center in Chicago.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Landmarks such as Wrigley Field in Chicago have been used as COVID-19 mass vaccination sites. (photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons).<\/p><\/div>\n

At each of the mass vaccination sites, there is <\/span>no cost to receive the COVID-19 vaccine<\/span><\/a>, which made getting vaccinated all the more appealing for someone like Jim Featherstone.<\/span><\/p>\n

Featherstone received the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine at a mass vaccination clinic operated by the Greene County Health Department in Carrollton, Illinois.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI would recommend the health department mass vaccinations,\u201d Featherstone said. \u201cIt was fast and closer than the nearest pharmacy that would do it.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Residents waiting to gain entry into the Fox Valley Mall mass vaccination site in Aurora, Illinois.<\/p><\/div>\n

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.<\/span><\/p>\n

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 <\/span>public mass vaccination site opened at the Fox Valley Mall<\/span><\/a>, she opted to get the vaccine at the mall instead of the doctor\u2019s office.<\/span><\/p>\n

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\u2019s supersite clinics.<\/span><\/p>\n

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.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

The length of the line outside the COVID-19 mass vaccination site at the Fox Valley Mall in Aurora, Illinois.<\/p><\/div>\n

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.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

A view from the inside of a COVID-19 mass vaccination site at the Fox Valley Mall in Aurora, Illinois<\/p><\/div>\n

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.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone needs to get vaccinated,\u201d Navarro said. \u201cAnd if I had to wait in a line to be vaccinated, so be it. If I didn\u2019t, I could still be for my primary care physician to call.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

The line outside a COVID-19 mass vaccination site at the Fox Valley Mall in Aurora, Illinois.<\/p><\/div>\n

Featherstone certainly agrees with Navarro about making the journey to get vaccinated at a mass vaccination site.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s definitely better than dying from the virus or giving it to someone else,\u201d Featherstone said. \u201cIn my opinion, only idiots wouldn\u2019t get the vaccine.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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. 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. \u201cI also think that enough wasn\u2019t done by the state, county, or the pharmacies to get the word out with ample notice,\u201d Shay said. \u201cIt 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.\u201d Enter Illinois\u2019s 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.\u00a0 Most of these centers can give 2,000 doses to Illinois […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":324,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[249],"class_list":["post-2860","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-bucom360"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/com.bradley.edu\/newslab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2860","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/com.bradley.edu\/newslab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/com.bradley.edu\/newslab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/com.bradley.edu\/newslab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/324"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/com.bradley.edu\/newslab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2860"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/com.bradley.edu\/newslab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2860\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2868,"href":"https:\/\/com.bradley.edu\/newslab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2860\/revisions\/2868"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/com.bradley.edu\/newslab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2860"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/com.bradley.edu\/newslab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2860"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/com.bradley.edu\/newslab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2860"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}