CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- Leaders in DuPage County are “deeply frustrated” by the lack of coronavirus vaccine supply.
DuPage County Chairman Dan Cronin described the vaccine allocation in Illinois as “completely and totally inadequate.”
The county's first dose allocation increased slightly this week from 2,450 to 4,510 shots.
"Keep in mind this is for a county of nearly a million people. Completely and totally inadequate," Cronin said at Tuesday’s county board meeting.
A mass vaccination clinic at the DuPage County fairgrounds is being forced to close for part of the week due to a lack of supply.
County health officials acknowledged a national vaccine shortage and weather-related delays, but DuPage and four other collar counties have declined to follow the state's plan to widen vaccine eligibility to medically vulnerable people under 65, because local officials say the supply is so low.
The expansion would represent another 174,000 people in DuPage, Health Department Executive Director Karen Ayala said.
"Adding 174,000 to the already undersupplied population does not make a lot of sense since these priority groups were identified based on risk in the first place," she said.
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The county also expects to receive 6,200 first doses next week, but leaders said it’s still not enough for Illinois’ second-largest county.
“If you look at the rate of vaccinations, mathematically it’s impossible for us to vaccinate 80 percent of 930,000 people out here before next fall,” Cronin said.
Cronin added one of the most troubling aspects of the vaccine rollout is what he calls a lack of transparency from the state government.
“Why can’t we know exactly how many doses are coming into the state of Illinois and exactly how many are going to this provider or that provider, this region or that region?” he said.
At the same time, Cronin told board members state leaders offered a more promising outlook.
“After many days of intensive and sometimes quite animated conversations with the governor, his staff and IDPH, I can report to you that our vaccination allocation has gone up incrementally," Cronin said.