Major Commercial Buildings Will Bring Vaccine Doses To Workers

ILLINOIS — The City of Chicago will partner with the state and building owners to bring vaccines straight to workers in major commercial buildings downtown and in other large cities across Illinois, Gov. J.B. Pritzker and Mayor Lori Lightfoot said in a press conference Monday.

Building owners can register with the state health department to get staff, supplies and vaccines brought right to their facilities so employees can get vaccinated where they work, without having to worry about transportation to far away vaccination clinics.

The program will begin at Chicago landmarks like Wrigley Building and Merchandise Mart, Pritzker said. Lightfoot echoed the importance of meeting workers where they're at.

"Now that we have a vaccine that is proven to be safe and effective, more and more employers are beginning to plan out or have even begun to welcome employees back to the office," Lightfoot said.

Illinois Department of Public Health announced mobile vaccine clinics would become more common as the department works with community groups to increase vaccination rates among areas that have slowed in the past few months.

Over the weekend, the city unveiled the Protect Chicago vaccination bus, a repurposed CTA bus that will travel to eligible zip codes with vaccine doses.

"We are focused on taking vaccine to people instead of people needing to come and meet the vaccine," Department of Public Health Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike said.