SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- Illinois is temporarily redirecting unused COVID-19 vaccine doses from the federal Pharmacy Partnership Program to the supply for others in Phase 1B.
Governor Pritzker said the state will take approximately 97,000 COVID-19 vaccine doses from Walgreens and CVS pharmacies intended for the federal Pharmacy Partnership Program.
After this transfer, approximately 110,000 doses will still remain available for the federal effort to vaccinate long term care residents. According to IDPH, the federal program is administering approximately 36,000 doses per week. Illinois will continue to closely monitor the program and additional doses will be directed to the program if needed or if the rate of vaccination accelerates.
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“We want to make sure every dose allocated to Illinois can be used as quickly and equitably as possible,” said IDPH Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike. “Long-term care residents and staff remain a top priority and we will ensure there will be as many doses readily available to those facilities as the PPP can administer each week. The State is grateful for its partnerships with hundreds of providers and we are directing excess doses that otherwise would be sitting in the freezer three weeks from now to locations across Illinois to vaccinate our Phase 1B residents.”
Pritzker, along with officials from other states, have criticized the federal partnership with Walgreens and CVS for moving too slowly in vaccinating residents and staff at nursing homes and other long-term care facilities nationwide, while demand for the vaccine among other eligible populations far outstrips supply.
Governor Pritzker more recently has said the pharmacy companies assured the state that the first round of vaccinations at assisted living facilities would be completed by Feb. 15. The program already has completed its first round of visits to nursing home, Pritzker said.
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According to the Governor's Office, the state is able to reallocate vaccine doses from the federal pharmacy partnership without risking a shortage for long-term care residents and staff, because the federal government initially overestimated how many doses would be needed to complete those immunizations, Pritzker said.
“As it turns out, they counted every bed and not every person. As you know there are facilities that are not full,” he said. “In addition, they assumed that every person that would be offered, including staff, would take the vaccine. That also has not been the case.
“So essentially, there has been a reallocation out of that to make sure that we can get as many vaccines into the arms of as many people as possible.”
Of the 97,000 doses being diverted, 80,000 will go to CVS pharmacies across Illinois and 17,000 will go to Walgreens locations, according to the state.
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The doses will be used to supplement the limited supply of vaccine for the more than 3.2 million Illinoisans who qualify for Phase 1B of the state’s COVID-19 Vaccination Plan.
For information on how to make an appointment to receive the vaccine, updates on the state’s plan and eligibility, and answers to frequently asked questions about the COVID-19 vaccine, go to coronavirus.illinois.gov.