The site, located on Oakton Street not far from O’Hare Airport, is one of the first to offer the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
Appointments for the Des Plaines mass vaccination site can be made at vaccine.cookcountyil.gov or by phone at (833) 308-1988. The site is open Monday through Friday from 7am to 7pm
“With our opening today, we are pleased to say that we are offering 800 vaccination slots today,” said Ratna Kanumury of Cook County Health.
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Jack Alberts, 83, got emotional when he arrived for his appointment, thinking how hard it was not to see his grandchildren.
“I haven’t seen my grandchildren … excuse me … in over a year and it’s quite difficult,” he said.
Alberts, like many others, rushed to make an appointment when Cook County Health opened them Thursday. All 18,000 places were booked within hours.
Jill Walsh is a nursing instructor who thought she was going to administer the vaccine long before she could get it, but she was lucky enough to make an appointment on the site’s opening day.
“I was going to wait for the Johnson & Johnson vaccine and didn’t expect to get it until this summer, so when it became available locally I was excited,” she said.
Scott Rovner felt like he had won the lottery when he finally got a slot online.
“When it hit, it was like ‘Oh my God, thank goodness I have an appointment,’” Royner said. “I happened to be off today, so it all worked out.”
Kevin Schneider is a college student who works at McDonald’s and he will be celebrating his 19th birthday this weekend as a vaccinated man.
“It’s like a burden off my chest, I feel a lot safer,” he said.
The new Des Plaines site is for Cook County residents only and will be the state’s first large-scale vaccination site to administer the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
“It is a single dose vaccine that is 100 percent safe and effective at preventing death,” Kanumury said.
Cook County Health says that as the site grows, it will be able to offer 2,800 slots on any given day.
Currently, four National Guard teams of 18 members are supporting her in the effort.
The focus is on vaccinating people aged 65 and over, health professionals, and frontline and essential personnel before opening up to the general population.
“The federal government has assured us that it will be able to provide enough vaccine to anyone who wants to receive the vaccine by the end of May,” Kanumury said.
Cook County Health says they don’t know yet when they will be offering more appointments for this current phase. They said that will depend on the shipment of vaccines.
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