Effingham County Health Department Announces Expansion of Vaccination Groups

Starting the week of March 15, the Effingham County Health Department will begin vaccinating the rest of Phase 1b and 1b+; this includes individuals who are under 65 with underlying health conditions and frontline essential workers. (See graphic.) The department will continue vaccinating those who are already eligible.

With the addition of these eligible groups the department will transition to online registration for their vaccine clinics. The department will share a link for each individual clinic where individuals will be able to go online and book their appointment.

The Effingham County Health Department has scheduled first dose clinics for Tuesday, March 16 and Thursday, March 18. Once the department receives the links for these clinics it will share them with the public and they will explain how to make those appointments.

As the department moves to online appointments it has closed its waiting list. Any individual who called and was not eligible for an appointment, will need to make their own appointment online – this includes those under 65 with underlying health conditions.

The Effingham County Health Department received nearly six thousand messages for the waitlist. Since the department opened up vaccinations to seniors, over five thousand appointments have been made by telephone. Sixty-one percent of Effingham County residents aged 65 and older have now received at least one dose of vaccine and nearly thirty percent are fully vaccinated.

The Department informed those who had their first appointment made by phone that they will receive a call for their second dose. This call will be four to six weeks after the first dose when the department receives the vaccine for that clinic.

For more information on Coronavirus, visit www.dph.illinois.gov/COVID-19 or www.effcohealth.org.