April 24, 2024
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Joliet vaccination clinic reopens Monday

Second dose of COVID-19 vaccine proceeds on schedule despite short supplies

By Bob Okon

Araceli Chavez receives her first dose of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine on Monday, Feb. 1, 2021, at Joliet West High School in Joliet, Ill. Starting today, the Joliet West High School field house is serving as a vaccination center for those who qualify for Phase 1B of the vaccine rollout. (Geoff Stellfox - gstellfox@shawmedia.com/Geoff Stellfox - gstellfox@shawmedia.com)

The COVID-19 vaccination clinic at Joliet West High School reopens Monday after being closed all this week because vaccines stopped arriving.

The reopening means second-dose vaccines will proceed as scheduled, and the clinic will be able to vaccinate another 600 people waiting for their first dose of the vaccine, said Joliet Fire Department Deputy Chief Jeff Carey.

Monday marks the start of second shots for people getting the two-dose vaccine at the clinic, which began vaccinating on Feb. 1.

The Joliet West High School Field House is serving as a vaccination clinic for the COIVD-19 vaccine. (Geoff Stellfox - gstellfox@shawmedia.com/Geoff Stellfox - gstellfox@shawmedia.com)

All vaccinations are by appointment only, Carey noted.

“Second doses are all scheduled,” he said.

Whether the clinic will be able vaccinate more than 600 people with the first dose of the vaccine in the coming week depends on supply.

“It’s still very, very low,” Steve Brandy, spokesman for the Will County Health Department, said Friday. “We have enough to cover for second doses but very little for first doses.”

Vicky Alleman (left) and Leslie Obrochta draw syringes of Moderna COVID-19 vaccine on Feb. 10 at the Will County Health Department in Joliet. (Geoff Stellfox - gstellfox@shawmedia.com/Geoff Stellfox - gstellfox@shawmedia.com)

The health department receives and distributes the vaccine to vaccination providers around Will County, including the clinic at Joliet West High School.

The shortage in first-dose vaccines has slowed down the vaccinations for people 65 and older, who were next in line at the Joliet West clinic to get the vaccine.

Brandy noted that more than 104,000 doses of the vaccine have been provided in Will County as of Friday, and 28,000 people have received both first and second doses.