CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- All Chicagoans could be getting vaccinations by the spring.
The Mayor recently said at the current rate it would take an unacceptable 18 months to vaccinate everyone, because vaccine doses have been so slow in coming.
"When can you get a COVID-19 vaccine in Chicago? This is the question we are getting over and over again," said Chicago Department of Public Health Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady.
Dr. Arwady said the phased rollout could have everyone starting to get vaccinated at the end of May - at least that is the tentative goal.
"I do, first of all, want to be very clear that any dates we provide are purely speculative based on how much vaccine we get," she said.
The city is currently in Phase 1A. According to Dr. Arwady, Phase 1B is scheduled to start Monday, and includes people 65 and older and essential workers, such as teachers and grocery store workers.
The city will release more information this week about how people in Phase 1B can get more information and sign up to be vaccinated.
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Dr. Arwady said Tuesday the city is tentatively planning to move into Phase 1C by late March. This phase covers other essential workers, as well as people ages 16-64 who have underlying medical conditions that put them at risk of severe cases of COVID-19. Chicago will then move into Phase 2 — when anyone 16 or older can get vaccinated — by the end of May, according to CDPH's plan.
She said younger children likely won’t be able to be vaccinated until this summer, at the earliest, since experts are still researching if the vaccines are safe for kids.
Again, the dates are tentative and rely on how many vaccine doses the city gets from the federal government, Arwady said. So far, Chicago has only gotten about 34,000 doses per week.