CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- Beginning this week, Illinois health departments and other COVID-19 vaccine providers will begin to receive a larger amount of COVID-19 vaccine second doses to accommodate a greater number of people in need of the second shot.
With federal shipments of the vaccine to Illinois remaining limited, this will mean providers will receive a smaller amount of first doses, IDPH said. Based on federal projections of vaccine shipments, IDPH anticipates these allocations will hold steady for the next several weeks, before allocations of first doses can once again increase in March.
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The public health department announced in a statement Saturday afternoon how it will balance the state’s federal dose shipments. The department wrote that it anticipates that “these allocations will hold steady for the next several weeks” until March, when shipments of the first dose will increase again.
IDPH has communicated extensively with local health departments and other providers to prepare for the shift and ensure those due for second doses can receive them in a timely manner. This has included webinars, individual planning calls, and a rapid electronic notification to all vaccine providers.
Both the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines require a second dose to be up to 95 percent effective. Second doses need to be administered three weeks after the first dose for those who receive the Moderna vaccine, and four weeks for those who receive Pfizer.
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"As the number of first doses being administered has increased over the past several weeks, now the number of doses needed for the second shot are also increasing. Therefore, the amount of vaccine available to be administered as a first dose must decrease," IDPH said in a statement. "Over the next several weeks, as the number of first doses administered decreases to account for the limited amount of vaccine, we will begin to see a balancing of vaccine available for both doses."