Local health departments can begin to move into the next phase of the COVID-19 vaccine plan, which includes administering vaccines to residents 65 years and older, Gov. JB Pritzker said Monday.

He said during a press conference in Springfield that significant progress has been made in completing the state's first phase of the vaccination rollout, which focuses on healthcare workers and long-term care residents. 

In some cases, Pritzker said regions have “substantially completed” the first phase of the vaccination plan, and the Illinois Department of Public Health will permit local health departments to move into the next phase.

“We want to make sure any available vaccine is administered quickly to the priority groups that we’ve laid out,” he said. “But I want to urge patience. Phase 1B will take many weeks to complete.”

Along with residents 65 and older, the next phase includes first responders, teachers, food and agriculture workers, manufacturers, postal workers, grocery store workers, day care staff and corrections staff and inmates. Pritzker said they plan to announce later this week when the entire state will move into the next phase of vaccinations.

Approximately 587,900 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines have been delivered to Illinois as of Sunday night, and 334,939 have been administered.

Pritzker also said Illinois will start posting daily vaccination data on the Department of Public Health’s website. 

“Our IDPH website will be the most up-to-date source of information about our vaccine distribution and administration on a daily basis,” Pritzker said... 

Health News Illinois 1.12.2021