DuPage County Declines To Expand COVID-19 Vaccinations Feb. 25

DUPAGE COUNTY, IL — DuPage County will not join Illinois in expanding its coronavirus vaccine eligibility to residents with underlying medical conditions on Feb. 25. Health department officials cite a limited vaccine supply as the reason.

Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker announced last Wednesday that Phase 1b of the state's vaccine rollout would expand to include residents ages 16 to 64 years old with high-risk medical conditions and disabilities.

Related: Illinois To Vaccinate People With Health Risks During Phase 1b

The DuPage County Health Department (DCHD) reports that the number of coronavirus vaccine first doses it expects to receive will be "limited" for the next three weeks, according to a news release. Whereas the department had been receiving an average of 14,000 new vaccine doses weekly, it expects just 2,450 first dose vaccines for the week of Feb. 15.

The health department expects first-dose vaccines to be more readily available in mid-March. In the meantime, the county will focus on vaccinating the more than 250,000 people who were eligible to be vaccinated in phase 1a and the first part of phase 1b.

According to health officials, DuPage County will look into expanding the vaccine availability when their vaccine supply increases "significantly," when the majority of people in the current phase of the vaccine rollout have been vaccinated or when demand for the current phase decreases.

Those who live and work in DuPage County can click the link to register for a vaccination.