April 18, 2024
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COVID-19 vaccine update: 1,311 Kendall County residents listed as fully vaccinated

By John Etheredge
A dose of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine is prepared at Northwestern Medicine Woodstock Hospital.

FILE PHOTO: A dose of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine is prepared at Northwestern Medicine Woodstock Hospital. (Northwestern Medicine)

As of Sunday, Jan. 17, 1,311 Kendall County residents or 1.02% of the county’s population had been fully vaccinated for COVID-19, according to Illinois Department of Public Health data.

Only six other counties in Illinois have a higher percentage of their populations fully vaccinated, the IDPH data shows.

DuPage County has the highest percentage of its population vaccinated at 1.26% followed by Knox at 1.19%, Winnebago at 1.11%, Kankakee at 1.08%, Clinton at 1.07% and Adams at 1.06%.

Statewide, 104,928 Illinois residents have been fully vaccinated for COVID-19 or 0.82% of the state’s total population as of Sunday, according to the IDPH.

To date, vaccinations have been limited to those who qualify under the IDPH’s Phase 1a of the state’s vaccination program. The phase includes frontline healthcare workers and residents of long-term healthcare facilities across the state.

Kendall County Health Department officials have said they hope to begin COVID-19 vaccinations for the elderly and essential workers in Phase 1b of the state’s vaccination program this week.

With the initial round of vaccinations for essential health care workers coming to a close, the health department expects a shipment of 500 new doses in the coming days, according to RaeAnn VanGundy, executive director of the health department told the county board Jan. 13.

Once in Phase 1b, health officials will start inoculations for residents over 65 and essential workers at a mobile vaccination clinic in the new Yorkville government center at 651 Prairie Point Drive, according to VanGundy.

Those eligible for vaccinations under Phase 1b will be able to fill out a survey registering themselves on the health department/s website. Health officials will then contact residents, referring them back to the website to schedule vaccinations through a new software program set to launch this week, VanGundy said.

As for mass vaccinations, the county will likely need several thousand doses before it can begin injecting it into the county’s broader population at an eventual site at Yorkville High School.

VanGundy told the board the health department, Yorkville School District 115 and local law enforcement have already coordinated for the launch of the mass vaccination site on a moment’s notice.

*Recored Newspapers reporter Lucas Robinson contributed to this story.