Pritzker, Ezike give details on COVID-19 vaccine distribution in Illinois

CHICAGO, Ill. (WMBD) — Coronavirus vaccines could be heading to Illinois within the month, so long as they get the green light from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Gov. J.B. Pritzker said Friday.

During his daily COVID-19 press conference, Pritzker laid out specific details about the distribution process of the vaccines regarding which ones will be distributed and who would get them first.

Pritzker said Pfizer will have their vaccine go through the FDA’s review process on Thursday, Dec. 10. If the review goes well, the first distribution of the company’s vaccines is expected to roll out from Sunday, Dec. 13 to Saturday, Dec. 19.

Data shows the Pfizer vaccine to have 95 percent effectiveness across a trial of 43,000 participants. The vaccine would be administered through two doses, each dose being three weeks apart from each other, and requires ultra-cold storage.

For the Moderna vaccine, Pritzker said their vaccine will go through FDA review on Thursday, Dec. 17, and should the FDA approve the vaccine, it is expected to be distributed from Sunday, Dec. 20 to Saturday, Dec. 26.

The data on the Moderna vaccine shows it having 94 percent effectiveness across 30,000 trial participants. The vaccine will need to be administered two doses four weeks apart.

Pritzker said Illinois will initially receive 109,000 doses of vaccines, a quarter of the amount the state was originally slated to get. Those doses will be distributed to the 50 state counties with the highest death rates per capita.

The vaccines will be shipped to ten Regional Hospital Coordinating Centers who will then coordinate distribution to the 50 counties.

In descending order, the counties include:

1. Greene

2. Wayne

3. Carroll

4. Ford

5. Mason

6. Union

7. Pike

8. Clay

9. Jefferson

10. Clinton

11. Whiteside

12. Fayette

13. Marion

14. Monroe

15. Cass

16. Bureau

17. Clark

18. Macon

19. Warren

20. La Salle

21. Williamson

22. Richland

23. Coles

24. Perry

25. Morgan

26. Knox

27. McDonough

28. Shelby

29. Suburban Cook

30. Jasper

31. Jersey

32. Saline

33. Christian

34. Iroquois

35. Saint Clair

36. Dewitt

37. Kankakee

38. Rock Island

39. Madison

40. Lake

41. Winnebago

42. Kane

43. Randolph

44. DuPage

45. Will

46. Ogle

47. Jo Daviess

48. Tazewell

49. Cumberland

50. Stark

As far as who will receive the vaccines first, Pritzker said Wednesday frontline healthcare workers and residents of long-term care facilities will take priority with the initial doses. There are 654,598 frontline healthcare workers and 109,227 residents of long-term care facilities in Illinois.

Illinois Department of Public Health Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike said the state purchased 20 ultra-cold freezers to store the vaccines when they arrive. She said IDPH will track and receive the vaccines directly.