April 18, 2024
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Kendall County Health Department planning vaccine clinic for 16-18 year olds

Officials also approve $30,000 to continue funding call center fielding appointment requests from local residents

By Lucas Robinson

FILE - This Thursday, March 18, 2021 file photo shows syringes filled with the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine at a pop up site in the Queens borough of New York. According to results released on Monday, March 29, 2021, The U.S government’s first look at the real-world use of COVID-19 vaccines found their effectiveness was nearly as robust as it was in controlled studies. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer) (Mary Altaffer)

The Kendall County Health Department will host a vaccination clinic for residents aged 16 to 18 years-old, the county top local health official has announced, though further details on dates and locations are not yet known.

The health department opened up COVID-19 vaccine eligibility to include teenagers last week, far outpacing neighboring counties. With the success of the mobile vaccine clinic at the new Yorkville City Hall, Health Department Executive Director RaeAnn VanGundy confirmed at a county board meeting Wednesday evening, April 7, that high schoolers will soon be able to attend vaccination events scheduled just for them.

“Just to make sure we get these older classmates vaccinated so they can get back to their sports and sports activities over the summer,” VanGundy told the county board Wednesday night, April 7.

The health department continues to ramp its vaccination campaign, administering thousands of inoculations each week. The county has administered about 65,000 vaccines since late December, with 18.5% of residents having received both shots.

County officials also allocated more money Wednesday evening toward a call center that has been fielding vaccine appointment calls from residents.

The initial amount of funds approved by officials for the call center was quickly burned through, with a peak 1,000 minutes of call time recorded in a single day.

“This has been taking that initial load off staff,” County Administrator Scott Koeppel said. “It has been successful, there are some bumps sometimes. When they’re going through the FAQ they might get the answer wrong.”

County Board Chairman Scott Gryder remarked that the call center got information incorrect when he performed quality control early on, though Koeppel added that quality control metrics have improved.

The amount of calls answered and resolved has improved with time, Koeppel said, and average call time has been reduced from six to five minutes.

The county board appropriated $30,000 for the call center contractor, though officials said that entire amount might not be used depending on minutes spent answering calls.