Where to get the Covid vaccine in Illinois
6/3/21 Update: This post is no longer being updated. There are now appointments available anywhere including select City, County and State vaccination sites as well as Walgreens . Everyone 12 and older is eligible to be vaccinated.
Everyone in Chicago and Illinois age 16 and older is eligible for the vaccine. Read this post for the location of walk-in and drive thru vaccination sites. COTC note: When I got my second shot at Wrigley Field I asked about walk-ins. They said they are taking walk-ins at the end of the day – if there’s any vaccine left. The day I got my shot they were fully booked so in theory there wouldn’t be any vaccine left. Unless you live close to a site I would recommend still making an appointment so you don’t waste your time. Also the City of Chicago will be issuing a Vax pass that people will need to attend concerts and other large attendance events. This should be announced in early May so there could be a run on vaccination appointments around that time.
Indiana has had appointments for weeks
Vaccine Spotter Vaccine Finder
As expected there is confusion and chaos around the distribution of the vaccine. The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) issues guidance on who can get the vaccine but that doesn’t matter because no one seems to have it. There appear to be four phases of distribution. 1a, 1b, 1c and 2. We are currently in Phase 1b but they are taking people 65 and older. Phase 1b is supposed to be 75 and older, plus others (see below).
3/24/2021 update: The City of Chicago and the State of Illinois use different qualifications for vaccination. State of Illinois Eligibility on March 22, 2021: Higher education staff, government workers, and media. March 29, 2021: Restaurant staff, construction trade workers, and religious leaders and April 12, 2021: Any resident age 16 and up.
This means beginning April 12, 2021 any resident of the State of Illinois age 16 and up, who can get an appointment, can get vaccinated at any State of Illinois site.
Per the media Chicago and Cook County do not have enough vaccine to expand eligibility so changes in State eligibility will only apply to areas outside of Cook County.
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Where to get the Covid vaccine in Indiana – Illinois residents welcome!
Updated 4/11/2021: Multiple locations in Northwest Indiana have vaccine appointments available this week. Even the head of the Chicago Department of Public Health has suggested that people go to IN. You can refuel and pick up groceries and booze on the cheap and/or visit the Indiana Dunes. Check it out.
Where to get the Covid vaccine in Illinois
Almost everyone I know who has gotten the vaccine spent hours online each day searching for appointments.
Where to get the Covid vaccine in Illinois – Register everywhere
There are no walk-in appointments or on-site registration available at any government site. As we’ve all read people lurk outside locations hoping for a vaccine based on info from Facebook pages and other places on the interwebs. I have no information on that.
Where to get the Covid vaccine in Chicago
State of Illinois: The State of Illinois list has mostly Walgreens on it’s website with links to each Walgreens website to register. If you search by a downtown zip code Stroger and Provident hospitals come up as well as some suburban locations. If you live in the suburbs this is a good place to search for links to other locations.
- Arlington Heights Health Center – 3250 N. Arlington Heights Rd., Arlington Heights (Register for this location through Cook County)
- Belle-Clair Fairgrounds – 200 S. Belt E #2650, Belleville
- Blue Island Health Center – 12757 S. Western Ave., Blue Island
- Carle Foundation Hospital – Champaign
- Clark County Health Department – Martinsville
- Cottage Grover Health Center – 1645 Cottage Grove Ave., Ford Heights
- Crawford County Health Department – Robinson
- East Side Health District Mobile team – various locations in East St. Louis
- Elmhurst Hospital – Downers Grove
- Franklin Williamson Bi-County Health Department – West Frankfort
- Gibson Area Hospital – Gibson City
- HSHS St. Elizabeth’s Hospital – O’Fallon
- Iroquois Memorial Hospital – Watseka
- Jo Daviess County Health Department – (2 locations Elizabeth and Galena)
- Katherine Shaw Bethea Hospital and Center for Health Services – (3 locations Polo, Oregon, Dixon)
- Lee County Health Department – Dixon
- Madison County Health Department – Wood River
- Massac Memorial Hospital – Metropolis
- McDonough District Hospital Health Services – Macomb
- Morton East Adolescent Health Center – 2423 S. Austin Blvd., Cicero
- North Riverside Health Center – 1800 S. Harlem Ave., North Riverside
- Provident Hospital – 500 E. 51st St., Chicago
- Riverside Medical Center – Kankakee (2 locations)
- Robbins Health Center – 13450 S. Kedzie Ave., Robbins
- Schuyler County Health Department – Rushville
- South Suburban College – 15800 State St., South Holland
- John H. Stroger, Jr. Hospital – 1969 Ogden Ave., Chicago
- Swedish Hospital – Chicago
- Thornton Fractional High School – 18500 Burnham Ave., Lansing
- Tinley Park Convention Center – 18451 Convention Center Dr., Tinley Park
- Triton College – 2000 5th Ave., River Grove, T Building on the East Campus
- University of Illinois Health – Chicago
Cook County Department of Public Health: Register through link or call the Vaccine Sign-Up Hotline: 833-308-1988 M-F 7am-7pm CT. I called the number several times and it was busy.
Cook County sites
- United Center 1901 W. Madison St. Chicago, IL 60612
- Forest Park Vaccination Center (Pfizer) 7630 Roosevelt Rd. Forest Park, Illinois 60304
- Triton College (Pfizer) 2000 5th Ave Building T River Grove , IL 60171
- Des Plaines Vaccination Center (Pfizer) 1155 E Oakton St Des Plaines, IL 60018
- South Suburban College – Physical Fitness and Athletic Center (Pfizer) 15800 South State Street South Holland, IL 60473
- Tinley Park Convention Center (Moderna) 18451 Convention Center Drive Tinley Park, IL 60477
- CORE Center (Moderna) 2020 West Harrison Street Chicago, IL 60612
- Logan Square Health Center (Moderna) 2840 West Fullerton Ave Chicago, IL 60647
- Austin Health Center (Moderna) 4800 West Chicago Ave Chicago, IL 60651
- Dr. Jorge Prieto Health Center (Moderna) 2424 South Pulaski Road Chicago, IL 60623
- Provident Hospital of Cook County (Pfizer) 500 East 51st Street Chicago, IL 60615
- Englewood Health Center (Moderna) 1135 W. 69th St. Chicago, IL 60621
- Morton East Health Center (Pfizer) 2423 S Austin Blvd Cicero, IL 60804
- North Riverside Health Center (Pfizer) 1800 S Harlem Ave North Riverside, IL 60546
- Blue Island Health Center (Pfizer) 12757 S Western Ave Blue Island, IL 60406
- Robbins Health Center (Pfizer) 13450 S Kedzie Ave Robbins, IL 60472
- Arlington Heights Health Center (Pfizer) 3250 N Arlington Heights Rd Arlington Heights, IL 60004
- Cottage Grove Health Center (Pfizer) 1645 Cottage Grove Ave Ford Heights, IL 60411
Cook County partner sites
Epic Urgent Care, 770 E Dundee Rd, Palatine, IL 60074, (708) 733-7750
Family Christian Health Center, 31 W 155th Street, Harvey, IL 60426, (708) 271-8777
Gottlieb Memorial Hospital, 701 W North Ave, Melrose Park, IL 60160
Loyola University Medical Center, 2160 S 1st Ave, Maywood, IL 60153
MacNeal Hospital, 3249 S Oak Park Ave, Berwyn, IL 60402
Oak Street Health Berwyn, 7000 Cermak Rd, Berwyn, IL 60402
Oak Street Health Lincoln Crossing, 1401 Western Ave, Chicago Heights, IL 60411
PCC South, 6201 Roosevelt Rd, Berwyn, IL 60402 (708) 386-0845
All other Illinois Counties – You can also find links to other counties here. You must be a resident of the county you register in.
Champaign-Urbana Public Health District
DeKalb County Health Department
DuPage County Health Department
Kankakee County Health Department
McHenry County Department of Health
Links to all Illinois Township and County Health Departments
Retailers
Costco: The COVID-19 vaccine is not yet available at Costco Pharmacy in Illinois.
CVS: The COVID-19 vaccine is not yet available at CVS Pharmacy in Illinois. Update 2/5/21: Per the Chicago Tribune 80k doses are being redirected to CVS pharmacies in Downstate Illinois.
Hyvee: According to the State of IL there are 16 locations administering the vaccine in Illinois. I tested locations in Peoria and Springfield and they had no appointments.
Jewel Osco: According to the State of IL there are 92 locations administering the vaccine in Illinois. The only Jewel’s in a 50 mile radius of downtown that come up are 370 N. DesPlaines and 4032 W. Foster. They had no appointments.
Mariano’s: According to the State of IL there are 6 locations administering the vaccine in Illinois. Mariano’s website shows 18 in the city and suburbs that offer it. They had no appointments.
Walgreens: According to the State of IL there are 170 locations administering the vaccine in Illinois. See the State of Illinois website to search for Walgreens by zip code. Each Walgreens has a unique website to register. However the first three links I tried got an error message. You can go here. Also you’ll need to be signed into your Walgreens.com account. If you don’t have one you’ll need to sign up. You should, they have good deals! I wasn’t able to go through the process because I’m not eligible. My understanding is you fill out a form and when you get to the end they tell you there are no appointments. Then you have to start all over again.
Walmart: According to the State of IL there are 8 locations administering the vaccine in Illinois.
Hospitals/Healthcare systems
Advocate Healthcare: They are vaccinating their most vulnerable patients based on CDC guidelines. If you’re a patient, they will contact you to schedule.
Southern Illinois Healthcare: Current patients sign up for a MyChart account to get notification of when vaccines are available. They have no vaccine currently.
University of Illinois Medicine: Anyone eligible can get the vaccine there. “ALL AVAILABLE VACCINE APPOINTMENTS ARE FILLED. We apologize for any inconvenience. We have currently met our scheduling capacity for available vaccine. Please continue to check back to this page for updates on scheduling availability.”
Plan of attack
There are appointments available almost everywhere!
I’m not eligible yet but when I am I plan to do the following. Contact my Primary Care Physician, register at every site I can and probably check all of the above locations a few times a day until I get an appointment. I am limited on where I will go because I don’t have a car. However I’m not high risk and even if you get the vaccine tomorrow you still can’t go anywhere. At this point almost no one has it and the virus is so rampant that even if fully vaccinated you still have to stay on lockdown. If I was older or high risk or both I would spend a part of every hour, every day trying to get an appointment day and I would take an appointment almost anywhere. I would just rent a car to get there. As it stands now I don’t anticipate being fully vaccinated until late fall or December.
Current status of vaccination in Illinois – No change as of 4/29/21 Abysmal+ (Upgraded from Abysmal!)
I believe the State of Illinois has substantially picked up the pace but I’m too fatigued to do another calculation as to when we may all be vaccinated. Maybe by October 1, 2021. I doubt it!
The number of people getting vaccinated is dwindling so we may never reach 60-70% vaccination levels for herd immunity. If we continue vaccinating at the current rate my calculation to reach 70% would be 9/1/2021.
Summary
There’s little vaccine available currently and chaos and confusion regarding distribution of what little there is. Stay locked down until your turn comes later this year. Be patient! Good luck!
There’s vaccine available everywhere. Make an appointment and go in. Thank you!
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Where to get the Covid vaccine in Chicago
