Lee HD schedules vaccine clinic; Whiteside HD links to Surge Center

Lee County Health Department announced that Paw Paw Community Unit School District 271 will host a Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine clinic at 511 Chapman Street in Paw Paw.

The clinic will be 3 to 5 p.m. on Friday. Vaccines for persons 5 years or older are eligible, but must make an appointment at https://tinyurl.com/yrrtucka.

Whiteside County

Whiteside County Health Department notified the public with a general release, which read that it will begin coordinating its contact tracing with the Illinois Department of Public Health’s Surge Center starting on Friday.

The state’s Surge Center will manage most cases and prioritize case investigations, the release said.

The biggest change is that individuals who are isolating because of contact tracing and require a return-to-work letter must “opt in” to the system; local health departments will no longer be able to provide a return-to-work letter. To “opt in” a person must call 312-777-1999 and agree to an interview and symptom monitoring.

The local health department can’t intervene for those using over-the-counter at-home tests. A positive result with an at-home must be confirmed through the testing provider, which will report results to the IDPH.

The local health department will continue to respond to cases in high-risk settings, such as schools, day care centers and longterm care facilities. This is so they can identify potential outbreaks and clusters.