Cook County officials have announced the opening of the Tinley Park Convention Center as the first large-scale COVID-19 vaccination site in the county. The site will begin operations on Tuesday, January 26, and will serve both Phase 1a and Phase 1b vaccine recipients.
Phase 1b includes people aged 65 and older as well as essential workers such as first responders, manufacturing employees, and grocery store staff. Officials estimate that about 600,000 suburban Cook County residents are eligible under this phase. However, they caution that vaccine supply is currently limited.
“While current vaccine supply does not meet the demand – we are standing up large scale sites now to ensure that we are ready as vaccine continues to be distributed to Cook County,” said Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle. “We are anxious to contribute to the Biden Administration’s goal of providing 100 million vaccines in the first 100 days.”
Vaccinations at Tinley Park and other county health sites will be available by appointment only. Appointments for those eligible under Phase 1b can be scheduled starting at noon on Monday, January 25 at vaccine.cookcountyil.gov. For individuals without internet access or who need help scheduling an appointment, assistance is available by phone at (833) 308-1988 from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., Monday through Friday. Appointment slots will be offered based on current vaccine inventory and will expand as new shipments arrive.
“This first large site in the Southland is indicative of our commitment to distribute vaccine equitably, but we fully expect that demand will quickly outpace supply. It is critical for people to understand that while we are anxious to vaccinate everyone who wants to be vaccinated, vaccine supply remains the biggest limiting factor. We are asking Cook County residents for their continued patience as we work to ramp up one of the largest County-operated vaccine programs in the country,” said Israel Rocha, CEO of Cook County Health.
When fully operational and supplied with adequate doses, officials expect the Tinley Park site could administer up to 3,000 vaccinations per day.
“I want to thank all the various county agencies who have been working tirelessly to bring vaccine to the community. I also want to thank Governor Pritzker for deploying the Illinois National Guard to assist us in standing up this site. We look forward to the federal government increasing vaccine distribution in the coming weeks and months,” said President Preckwinkle.
Governor JB Pritzker added: “Widespread vaccination sites will allow us to quickly and efficiently get these life-saving vaccine doses to Illinoisans as more federal shipments of vaccine come online. The Illinois National Guard and the Illinois Department of Public Health are proud to partner with Cook County to launch the Tinley Park Convention Center Vaccination Site – our seventh collaboration in Cook County overall, with many more to come across the state. And Illinois residents from every region can find their nearby vaccination site options, from local health department operations to hundreds of pharmacy partners statewide, on coronavirus.illinois.gov. As federal supply is currently limited and every state in the nation is facing a shortage, I urge all eligible Illinoisans to check back regularly for available appointments – and in the meantime, mask up, keep our distance, wash our hands, and remember we’ll stay healthy and safe if we look out for each other.”
In addition to county-run locations like Tinley Park, vaccines have also been distributed by public health authorities at over 90 partner sites including major pharmacies such as Jewel-Osco, Mariano’s, Walgreens; Federally Qualified Health Centers; and hospitals—all offering vaccinations by appointment. A full list of participating sites can be found at www.cookcountypublichealth.org.
County leaders plan at least five additional large-scale vaccination centers across suburban areas pending future availability of vaccines. They advise that progress through different phases depends on ongoing supply levels.
Residents not yet eligible for vaccination may sign up at vaccine.cookcountyil.gov for updates regarding their eligibility phase and information about other vaccination locations throughout Cook County.
