Evanston Ignores FOIA Deadlines, Fails To Provide Vaccine Data

EVANSTON, IL — Despite promises to the public and legal requirements under state law, city officials in Evanston have so far declined to provide detailed vaccination data.

As one of four certified municipal health departments in suburban Cook County, the Evanston Health and Human Services Department has received vaccine shipments directly from the Illinois Department of Public Health.

Last month, after city health department staff declined a request for data about the number of COVID-19 doses received and administered by the city, Evanston Patch filed a public records request for the data under the Illinois Freedom of Information Act. By city staff's calculations, that request was due Jan. 28.

A week later, Evanston Health and Human Services Director Ike Ogbo said during video discussion with the mayor aimed at answering questions from residents that he did not know the precise number of vaccines distributed by the state or administered by the city.

During the Feb. 4 video, Ogbo suggested city staff would soon begin releasing the data.

"We're going to be, hopefully, displaying how many vaccines we've administered and the groups that have received the vaccines and the days in which the vaccines were received on a dashboard on the city's website. I'm hoping that that will go up tomorrow or early next week," Ogbo said. "And that will give our residents, and others who care to know, how many vaccines have been administered and the groups that have received the vaccine."

City staff responded to the Jan. 13 request on Feb. 15 — nearly three weeks after the law required — without providing the requested data.

"The City receives weekly allotments from the State which [vary] from week to week," Ogbo said, in response to a request for the amount and dates of vaccine distribution.

Just as in the Feb. 4 question and answer video, Ogbo did not provide the number of people vaccinated by the city.

Evanston city staff also ignored a Jan. 12 request from the city editor of the Daily Northwestern seeking the number of vaccines administered, as well as the geographic and demographic information of those who have received doses from the city. That request was due Jan. 27, but city officials had not responded as of Tuesday — three weeks later.

A Feb. 11 message on the city's website said its health department would this week begin vaccinating people aged 73 and up for the first time. Previous vaccination clinics were limited to those 75 and up. It was not clear if city staff would follow through with the effort in light of Saturday's announcement from state public health officials that distribution of second doses would be prioritized over first doses.

A city spokesperson did not respond to a question Tuesday morning as to whether the city has yet vaccinated any essential workers who are not employed by the city. According to its website, city officials plan to begin distributing doses to teachers at some point in the coming weeks, with priority given to those "who are or will be doing in-person activities" and starting with older members of the group.