COVID-19 Vaccination Can Take Months: Will Co. Health Official

WILL COUNTY, IL — The Will County Health Department is being inundated with inquiries about the COVID-19 vaccination and Sue Olenek, the executive director of the department, answered questions from the county board’s Public Health and Safety Committee Wednesday during a virtual session.

The public and the board members alike have asked when vaccines will be available as residents are getting anxious about the slow progress of the rollout. Olenek said that it will be a while before the supply of vaccines is at par with the demand.

"This is going to be months. You may register and you may not get an appointment for two months," she said.

Nearly 125,000 residents signed up with the health department to get notified when it’s their turn to get vaccinated. Olenek said as her staff is limited, it takes time to reach all the eligible residents who want to receive a shot. She said the department’s COVID-19 hotline for answering questions about the disease and testing has been crashing due to the volume of calls.

"The hotline is not working at all," Olenek said.

The solution to this, according to her, is to outsource their call system to a company so calls get answered and her staff is not under such immense pressure.

Committee Chair Rachel Ventura (D-Joliet) said even though the county officials are trying to ramp up the process, they are severely limited by the supplies coming from the federal and state governments.

"We are all anxious to get back to everyday life," she said. "I understand the need."

In order to make this go quicker in a safe manner, the county has developed a vaccination program which utilizes a collaborative partnership between Will County Health Department and over 40 different providers including local hospitals, EMS providers, pharmacies and other healthcare providers.

Olenek said that many have volunteered to help administer the shots. She said she hopes the public will eventually be able to register for an appointment to get vaccinated via an online system.

The county received its first Pfizer vaccine on Dec.16 and is nearing completion of vaccinating all individuals in Phase 1A, which includes healthcare professionals and residents of long-term care facilities.

It has now begun to contact and schedule appointments for individuals in Phase 1B, which includes those 65 and older, first responders, educators, grocery store, postal and manufacturing workers.

As of Thursday, 13, 103 people in the county have been fully vaccinated, according to the Illinois Department of Public Health. This account for 1.89 percent of Will County's total population.

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