109K Illinoisans To Get COVID-19 Vaccine This Week: Pritzker

ILLINOIS — The first shipment of the first COVID-19 vaccine from Pfizer has arrived in Illinois, Gov. J.B. Pritzker said Monday during his daily news conference.

"As we speak," he said, "our vaccine distribution teams are putting into action what they've prepared and drilled for over the past several weeks, carefully taking inventory of tens of thousands of vaccines, repackaging those vaccines, and preparing those packages to ship out to our hospital distribution centers tomorrow and Wednesday — the timeline requested by our partners on the ground."

The vaccines, approved by the Food and Drug Administration, need to be stored in ultra-cold temperatures until the last moment, Pritzker said. Once they are received by medical care providers, they must administered within just a few days. The shipment Illinois received Monday is roughly half of the statewide allocation for the first round, excluding Chicago.

At the recommendation of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and medical professionals, a portion of the vaccines will be shipped directly from the manufacturers to four of the state's larger public health departments in Cook, Lake, Madison and St. Clair counties later this week.

Pritzker said this week the first Illinoisans will receive the first of their two doses of the vaccine. Illinois will receive about 109,000 doses this week. Nationally, there are almost 24 million people who are classified as Phase 1A — meaning they will be among the first to receive the vaccine — according to the CDC.

"Our destination is clear but the road ahead will be long," the governor said.

Pending FDA approval, the Moderna vaccine will start going out next week, and a portion of it will be reserved for Illinois' long-term care facilities. The federal government is handling those distributions through contracts with CVS and Walgreens.

Pritzker said that across the next three deliveries of the vaccines, all nursing care facility workers who have signed up through the national program should be able to get vaccinated. Echoing the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, he reassured people that even though the vaccine was developed at an incredible pace, it has gone through the formal regulatory process under immense scrutiny.

The Illinois Independent Review Board released its findings Monday after going through FDA data and unanimously approved the CDC's recommendations on the vaccine released over the weekend.

These are:

• The vaccine is recommended to all American 16 years of age and over.
• Those with severe allergic reactions to vaccines in the past can still get the COVID-19 vaccine, but they should discuss the risks with their doctors.
• No special precautions need to be taken by people with non-vaccine allergies, such as an allergic reaction to peanut butter.
• Pregnant women should consult with their doctors and choose whether to take the vaccine or wait for more data. A report from the CDC last month notes that pregnant women who get COVID-19 are at an increased risk of complications compared to non-pregnant women of the same age. However, there is still no data on how the vaccine would affect pregnant women.
• Vaccines with live viral material are not recommended for pregnant women, but the Pfizer vaccine has no such component.

"Eleven months after scientists of the world over got their hands on the genetic sequence of the virus, we are seeing the beginning of the end of this pandemic," Pritzker said. "This is an incredible testament to our research institutions, to the scientists, to the medical professionals who worked tirelessly every day of this battle without ever knowing exactly when this day would come, but holding out hope in their hearts that it would. And here we are."

Illinois Health and Hospital Association President and CEO A.J. Wilhelmi said hospitals are ready to be on the front lines again as vaccination begins. Many hospitals have created internal distribution plans and are in communication with local health departments to ensure that the complex and logistically challenging procedure will go "as smoothly as possible," he said.

"We know this, our vaccine demand will far exceed supply in the first couple months," Wilhelmi said. "So our hospital leaders are urging calm and patience as the vaccination process plays out. The stakes are too high to rush through it."