CVS Expands Vaccine Locations In Illinois

ILLINOIS — More CVS locations across Illinois will offer coronavirus vaccinations, the company announced Friday. The expansion is part of the Federal Retail Pharmacy Program, a collaboration between the federal government, states and private pharmacies.

The new locations include:

• Belleville
• Chicago
• Hoopeston
• Mendota
• Pekin

As of 11 a.m. Friday, all the sites were listed as "fully booked" on the CVS website, but the company urged customers to keep checking and make an appointment when one becomes available.

CVS says the eligibility requirements are:

• Must live or work in Illinois
• People age 65+
• Qualifying essential workers who are public facing and cannot distance
• People with specific health-complicating conditions or status
• Residents and staff of long-term and congregate care
• Chicago is limited to people age 65+ and health care workers who live or work in the city.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the program is being implemented incrementally based on the available vaccine supply, with select retail pharmacy locations providing COVID-19 vaccine to eligible individuals.

As vaccine availability increases over time, the program will expand to ultimately include all 40,000 pharmacies in the United States, the CDC said.

As of Friday, 3.5 million doses of vaccine had been delivered to providers across Illinois, including Chicago. In addition, about 443,700 doses have been allocated to the federal Pharmacy Partnership Program for long-term care facilities.

Of those doses, 2.9 million have made their way into the arms of Illinoisans — about 79,000 doses per day over the last week.

Doug Gross contributed to this reporting