* Illinois Hospital Association…

Illinois hospitals are working around the clock in concert with Governor Pritzker, the Illinois Department of Public Health, the entire state pandemic response team and local health departments with the shared goal of ensuring COVID-19 vaccines are appropriately administered in a timely manner.

That process is on track.

Hospitals and healthcare workers have been on the front lines of this pandemic for 10 months and are doing their part to execute on the vaccination plan. Critical to this effort is ensuring our hospitals have the necessary lead time to prepare for the vaccination of hospital staff within the 5-day timeframe before vaccine spoils. The 48-hour window of preparation is needed to ensure we can get vaccines into arms as quickly as possible and make sure no vaccine is wasted.

Reiterating my message from the Governor’s press conference on Monday, “We are urging calm and patience as the vaccination process plays out. Vaccination of the people of Illinois is going to require a thoughtful process that takes months, not days, and we’re committed to doing this right. The stakes are too high to rush through it.”

The extensive and logistically challenging vaccination process is rolling out now, as scheduled, and thousands of vaccines will be administered before the end of the week, as planned.

We are turning the tables on this virus, together.

* Help is on the way…

Paperwork being signed off on. #Pfizer @WGNMorningNews #Covid19 pic.twitter.com/P6dOQ658Bx

— Brónagh Tumulty (@BronaghTumulty) December 17, 2020

* The feds need to be more upfront about stuff, though…

Pharmacists have found a way to squeeze extra doses out of vials of Pfizer’s vaccine, potentially expanding the nation’s scarce supply by up to 40 percent.

The Food and Drug Administration said late Wednesday that those extra doses could be used, clearing up confusion that had caused some pharmacists to throw away leftover vaccine for fear of violating the rules the agency set last week.

And that’ll help mitigate the fact that dose shipments were cut in half this week.

*** UPDATE 1 *** Like I said, patience will be a virtue. The feds haven’t even sent the vaccine to Cook, Lake, Madison and St. Clair counties. From Jordan Abudayyeh

Vaccine distribution from the Illinois Strategic National Stockpile (SNS) to Regional Hospital Coordinating Centers (RHCCs) that are a part of the state’s distribution plan received their allotted doses and local health departments have delivered them to hospitals in their region per the local health department’s vaccination plan.

**DuPage County, unlike other jurisdictions in the state, received Ultra-Cold Vaccine in the original Pfizer boxes with dry ice. DuPage County will not be distributing all of this vaccine today, but will be allocating the vaccine per their plan with their providers over the course of the coming days.

It is important to remember that four counties are receiving direct shipments of vaccine from the federal government: Cook, Lake, Madison and St. Clair. That shipment is expected to arrive before the end of the week.

* Also…

For those of you who have asked about the 7 counties that were allotted doses, but did not have hospitals within the county. Here is the breakdown of where those doses went:

Cass LHD (Original Allocation 70 doses) – Returned for distribution to the RHCCs.
Clark LHD (Original allocation 80 doses) – Returned for distribution to the RHCCs.
Cumberland LHD (Original Allocation 40 doses) – Returned for distribution to the RHCCs.
Jasper LHD – (Original Allocation 20 doses) – Directed the doses to Effingham Hospital (St. Anthony’s.) As this is the hospital that serves their population.
Monroe LHD (Original Allocation 85 doses) – Returned for distribution to the RHCCs.
Carroll LHD (Original Allocation 65 doses) – Directed the doses to Freeport hospitals in Stephenson County. As this is the hospital that serves their population.
Stark LHD (Original Allocation 15 doses) – Returned for distribution to the RHCCs.

In addition to the above, IDPH worked to ensure that RHCCs who were not in the top 50 counties for death per capita received an allotment of doses

St. John’s in Springfield received 705 doses. SIU Carbondale received 115, Carle Hospital got 460 and OSF St Francis received 975.

*** UPDATE 2 *** I’d be more willing to be more patient if the federal government wasn’t so amazingly messed up…

Officials in multiple states said they were alerted late Wednesday that their second shipments of Pfizer-BioNTech’s vaccine next week had been reduced, sparking widespread confusion and spurring the company’s CEO to put out a statement saying it had millions more doses than were being distributed.

The changes prompted concern in health departments across the country about whether Operation Warp Speed, the Trump administration’s vaccine accelerator, was capable of distributing doses quickly enough to meet the target of delivering first shots to 20 million people by year’s end. A senior administration official, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal plans, said the revised estimates for next week were the result of states requesting an expedited timeline for locking in future shipments — from Friday to Tuesday — leaving less time for federal authorities to inspect and clear available supply.

But Pfizer released a statement on Thursday that seemed at odds with that explanation, saying the company faced no production issues and had more doses available than were being distributed.

“We have millions more doses sitting in our warehouse but, as of now, we have not received any shipment instructions for additional doses,” the statement read.

* Related…

* Pharmacist explains Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine side effects: “A lot of the other medications that we use that get approved… when they have studies, they have studies of 8,000 people, 6,000 people, and they get approved for their use. This study, in Pfizer alone, had 44,000 people, so the amount of data we have on the safety aspect is more than typical for the standard medication that would be perscribed by your doctor,” explained Laird.

* Twitter To Remove Or Place Warning Labels On COVID Vaccine Conspiracy Tweets

* A Real Shot: Doctor is first in Southern Illinois to receive COVID-19 vaccine

* First COVID-19 vaccines in Springfield given to workers at HSHS St. John’s Hospital: HSHS St. John’s Hospital intensive-care unit nurse SallyAnn Tamizuddin felt a wave of relief Wednesday after she and a St. John’s ICU doctor became the first two people in Sangamon County to receive COVID-19 vaccines.

* COVID vaccine: 1st shot in Will County, Illinois given to Joliet nurse

* Frontline healthcare workers receive first COVID-19 vaccinations in the Illinois Quad Cities

* FDA Panel Weighs Moderna’s COVID-19 Vaccine