Vaccination updates for Grundy County

The Grundy County Health Department provides information about updated criteria for Phase 1b for vaccine distribution.

Grundy County remains in Phase 1b, which we now understand includes people under age 65 years old with high-risk medical conditions. Although these folks have been included, we haven’t yet seen an increase in vaccine allocation directed to Grundy County. Our estimate is that 1b now includes more than 15,000 people, and we continue to see only hundreds of vaccines each week. It is going to take months to offer a vaccine to everyone who now qualifies.

The best way to obtain a vaccine is to first submit an interest survey at grundyhealth.com. At a much later time, a member of our team will be in touch via email or phone to schedule an appointment. Currently, almost 10,000 people have submitted a 1aor 1b interest survey. And we have been receiving between 300 and 600 vaccines each week. We are presently contacting people who submitted a survey on January 13 and are at about number 1260 on our list of 7200. We are putting in much effort to adhere to the order in which surveys are received. For those persons who have already submitted an interest survey, your place “in line”remains. We are not disregarding those who previously expressed interest. Rather, people who now are eligible in 1b will need to complete the survey and will be added to our list in the order in which the survey has been received.

As vaccine becomes available at retail pharmacy locations, we encourage residents to visit the website of the pharmacy corporation and register for an appointment. We understand that these appointments are limited in number and by location. However some Jewel-Osco and Walgreens sites have started to administer by appointment. Please visit the websites for more information. It has come to our attention that various scams are circulating related to vaccine appointments. Please know that no provider should ask for credit card information. And if you’re unsure if a phone call or email is legit, please contact the provider (pharmacy or health department) via phone to confirm the appointment request.

Our phone system is currently overwhelmed. We encourage you to submit a survey online, or have a loved one or friend do it on your behalf if you’re not active on the internet. Please know that if you leave a message,your call may not be returned for several days.

We understand your confusion and anxiety about the vaccine. We are awaiting more direction from IDPH before proceeding any further. The announcement regarding a change to Phase 1b, which isn’t effective until Feb. 25, was not something we were anticipating, nor were we given any notice outside of the public announcement. Residents should continue to monitor grundyhealth.com or local media sources for updates, including how and when to schedule an appointment. Please follow us on Facebook or tune in to WCSJ at 8:40am each Mon. and Thurs. morning.