Health officials: DuPage County has administered over 46,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccine, expects to start Phase 1b Monday

DUPAGE COUNTY – DuPage County has administered over 46,000 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine with nearly 13,000 residents fully vaccinated, the county health department announced in a news release on Wednesday.

The county as of Wednesday has administered 46,162 doses, according to vaccination data from the Illinois Department of Public Health. A total of 12,949 people in DuPage County have been fully vaccinated, meaning they have received both doses of the vaccine. DuPage County has fully vaccinated 1.39% of its population, which leads the state, the health department reported.

DuPage County anticipates beginning the transition to Phase 1b of the multi-phased vaccination process on Monday, Jan. 25. Because of the “very limited supply of COVID-19 vaccine across the country and in DuPage County,” the county anticipates it may take approximately 12 weeks to vaccinate the estimated 268,000 people in DuPage County who meet Phase 1b criteria. Phase 1b includes residents 65 years and older and “frontline essential workers,” including first responders, education workers like teachers and support staff, childcare workers, grocery store employees and postal service workers.

Anyone who lives, works, or attends college/university in DuPage County can register for updates about where and when COVID-19 vaccine will be available at www.dupagehealth.org/covid19vaccine.

“We recognize the sense of urgency to vaccinate our residents as quickly as possible,” DuPage County Health Department Executive Director Karen Ayala said in a statement. “The demand for vaccine currently exceeds the supply available to us which means it will take time to fully vaccinate those in DuPage County. We ask for everyone to understand that we can only administer the vaccine that is available to us each week through both the Health Department and our network of partner providers in the community.”