FOREST PARK, Ill. (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- Cook County is closing its mass vaccination sites this week even though COVID cases across the state are on the rise.
Illinois is averaging close to 200 percent more new coronavirus cases a day compared to two weeks ago. The Illinois Department of Public Health reported an average of 811 new cases a day; a number the state hasn't seen since the end of May.
Meantime demand for COVID-19 vaccines is waning.
At the height of the vaccine rollout, mass vaccination sites in Cook County were administering 4,000 doses a day. Now the sites are administering fewer than 150 doses per day, Cook County Health CEO Israel Rocha said Monday.
“The easy part is over,” Rocha said. “Our focus is now on changing hearts and minds, educating and encouraging those who have not yet been vaccinated to get their vaccination. This requires a much more local effort and we’re going to be putting our resources into this endeavor.”
As a result, Cook County is closing its last mass vaccination sites in Des Plaines and Forest Park on Tuesday, July 20 and the Matteson site on Wednesday, July 21. The other three mass vaccination sites in Tinley Park, River Grove, and South Holland closed in late May.
Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle said Monday that COVID-19 vaccines will continue to be available to anyone who wants one at local doctors’ offices, pharmacies, and other locations around the county.
According to the latest Cook County Department of Public Health data, nearly 50 percent of the county’s population is fully vaccinated, while nearly 60 percent of the population has had at least one shot.
To date, the Cook County Health system has administered nearly 870,000 COVID-19 vaccine doses, and more than 70 percent of those were provided at mass vaccination sites.
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