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The Joliet Fire Department will operate a regional COVID-19 vaccination center for teachers on Monday at Joliet West High School.
The vaccinations mark the local start of the next Phase 1b of vaccinations that also includes seniors, first responders, grocery workers, mail carriers and more.
“We’re starting out with a soft opening to make sure we have the process operating properly,” Fire Chief Greg Blaskey said Friday. “We’re starting with Joliet Township (High School) teachers.”
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In the coming days, teachers from other districts will come for the vaccinations followed by others given appointment by the Will County Health Department, Blaskey said.
The county announced Thursday that it has begun to contact people who qualify for Phase 1B for appointments. Forty providers have been lined up to provide vaccinations.
Those who want the vaccine can register on the county website, www.willcountyhealth.org. Those 65 and older without access to a computer or the Internet can call the Senior Services Center at 815-723-9713.
The establishment of the Joliet West vaccination site comes less than two weeks after Joliet officials announced they had a plan ready to go and publicly urged the Will County Health Department to move forward with vaccinations for Phase 1B. The state opened Phase 1B vaccinations on Jan. 25.
“We want to get this off the ground to help people get vaccinated,” Blaskey said. “We’ll start with the teachers.”
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About 5,000 teachers will be coming through the vaccination site at the Joliet West High School Fieldhouse, he said.
Others who qualify will come through the fieldhouse as they are given appointments by the county health department.
More than 100,000 Will County residents have registered for vaccinations, Sue Olenek, executive director for the county health department, said in the news release issued Thursday. “We have the volunteers and we have the sites for future clinics as we head into 1b, and we have already administered over 31,400 doses as we prepare to finish 1a.”
The release describes the vaccination program as a “phased approach with set priority groups” based on standards set by the Illinois Department of Public Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices.