The Illinois Department of Public Health released plans to distribute a coronavirus vaccine when it becomes available. The treatment will be free of charge to state residents seeking to be inoculated against COVID-19.
“There will not be a cost to individuals for the vaccine, although providers may charge a small fee to administer the vaccine, which will go towards insurance,” she said. “But no one will be turned away from getting a vaccine due to any inability to pay,” director of the Illinois Department of Public Health Dr. Ngozi Ezike.
To help distribute the vaccine, state health officials will make the treatment available to local health departments through the I-CARE registry, which tracks immunization records for children in the state.
Those in target groups including: critical workforce members who provide health care, staff and residents in long term care facilities and critical workforce members who provide essential functions of society will be the first to get the vaccination. As more becomes available, it will become available to the rest of the public.
“There will be limited doses that are going to be available when we get the first batch and then production will ramp up after that, but for that initial group it will absolutely be health care workers will be first,” Dr. Ezike said.
The state’s ultimate goal is to provide immunizations to 80-percent or more of the population of Illinois, a metric that would allow for “herd immunity,” according to CDC guidelines and the IDPH.
The vaccine will not be mandated.
“We will work to provide information about vaccines and the importance of vaccines, and also about the approval process,” Dr. Ezike said.
Dr. Ezike and Gov. JB Pritkzer said that any vaccine purchased and distributed by the state will have gone through the rigorous requirements necessary to keep the population safe.
“Illinois will not distribute a vaccine until we have one that is proven safe and effective,” Pritzker said. “We have a highly qualified team of experts from the private and public sectors teamed up to evaluate the public data and process when the vaccine data is made available over the coming weeks or months, and I’ll make sure that you can hear from them when the time comes.”
