Chicago health officials say the city could enter the next phase of vaccine rollout by the end of the month, but who qualifies?
The city has so far chosen not to introduce Phase 1B Plus vaccinations with the state, opening up doses to residents with certain underlying health conditions.
While no announcement of eligibility has been made so far, Phase 1C would likely extend vaccine eligibility to all other essential workers who are not already eligible, as well as Chicagoans over 16 years of age with underlying medical conditions.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Phase 1C includes:
- People aged 65-74 because they are at high risk of hospitalization, illness and death from COVID-19. People aged 65-74 who are also in long-term care facilities should be offered phase 1a vaccination.
- People aged 16-64 with underlying medical conditions that increase the risk of serious, life-threatening complications from COVID-19.
- Other Essential Employees, such as those working in transportation and logistics, food service, housing and finance, information technology, communications, energy, law, media, public safety and public health.
However, the CDC notes that Stage 1B and Stage 1C may overlap in some cases, such as with underlying medical conditions.
Chicago will remain under Phase 1B, which will include front-line workers and residents aged 65 and older, as well as health and long-term care workers and residents eligible for Phase 1A of the city’s rollout.
While the city has opted to expand into Phase 1B Plus, Dr. Chicago health commissioner Allison Arwady said that if Chicago got ‘a lot more vaccine’ in March, it’s possible officials could start vaccinating people with underlying conditions before they come in. Phase 1C.
Already, many residents eligible for Phase 1B Plus of the state rollout can get vaccinated at the United Center’s federally-led mass vaccination site.
Chicago health officials previously announced that the city had targeted an estimated start date for the next phase, Phase 1C, which would begin March 29.
Arwady said the city might begin vaccinations earlier if the city saw an increase in available doses, but she noted that the city remains on track to enter Phase 1C by the end of March.
‘We will make adjustments to that [date] as we always have, when we watch vaccine doses come in, ”said Arwady. But honestly, the way [vaccines have] getting in is about how I expected them to come in. March will look much better than February in terms of vaccination. And I think April is going to look a lot better than March. ”
Arwady has said Phase 1C would likely begin on March 29 and Phase 2, which includes all residents over the age of 16, could begin on May 31.
“It may be earlier than expected, but that timeline we’ve set actually continues to look pretty consistent with our numbers,” Arwady said. “Remember, we really said that the end of March, March 29th, was where we suspected that we might be at a point to move on to 1C and that we might be able to move at the end of May. haven’t seen anything to suggest really big, big differences from that. ”
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