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Chicago and its community providers currently have 120,779 vaccine doses on-hand

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* I told you on Monday (and updated since then) about how many vaccine doses that various public health departments had on-hand as of Friday. The lone exception was the City of Chicago, which wasn’t reporting its vaccine stockpile data to the state.

After much back-and-forth and claims that they didn’t have the number, I was finally able to get what Andrew Buchanan at the Chicago Department of Public Health says are its current numbers as of yesterday…

No other information was provided. But, if you click here and do a little math, you’ll see that Chicago’s average daily doses administered is 5,125 over the past 7 days. So, at this rate, it’ll take the city a little over 23 days to use up that stockpile.

…Adding… A different page within the city’s public health site shows an average dosage delivered at 10,338 per day when including those vaccinated who do not live in Chicago. It’s not clear if all those doses came from the city’s supply, but give ‘em the benefit of the doubt.

To put that number further into context, the Chicago Teachers Union has about 20,000 members and the union is clamoring for vaccinations for its membership before returning to work. The city could comply with that demand and still have 20 days’ supply on-hand at the current vaccination rate (or about 10 days when adding non-residents to the equation).

Just sayin…

…Adding… Andrew Buchanan at the Chicago Department of Public Health…

(T)hese numbers reflect vaccine that is being put into arms today and over the coming week, it’s been promised to people and providers who have appointments to fill. We receive our vaccine allotments on a weekly basis (typically arriving Monday-Wednesday) but they’re allocated already for appointments over the following week. For example, we received 10,725 doses of Pfizer that were just delivered to CDPH – that’s part of the 19,572 I reported to you – but all of our vaccine supply is already scheduled for appointments over the next week.

posted by Rich Miller
Thursday, Feb 4, 21 @ 12:32 pm

Comments

For heaven’s sake.

Just tell teachers to go to the nearest Drug store this weekend, present their ID and get the shot.

Ask the CTU to agree to a return to work on Monday. If they hedge, tell them the mayor will offer a written statement apologizing for the delay, accepting sole responsibility.

Comment by Thomas Paine Thursday, Feb 4, 21 @ 12:46 pm
From a serious standpoint, is there a significant demographic that is opposed to teachers receiving vaccinations as essential front line workers during a pandemic?

Comment by Candy Dogood Thursday, Feb 4, 21 @ 12:58 pm
Fascinating to see the full circle of CTU/Mayor/Vaccines. Get with the program folks.

Comment by Citizen Kane Thursday, Feb 4, 21 @ 1:12 pm
==Just tell teachers to go to the nearest Drug store this weekend, present their ID and get the shot.==

Well that fixes everything. I’ve been trying to find shots for several 75+ folks for weeks to no avail.

I should have just told them to walk into any Walgreens.

Comment by jimbo Thursday, Feb 4, 21 @ 1:14 pm
@Thomas Paine: “Let the eat cake!” If only it were that simple. Read the stories. The drug stores do not take walk-in appointments. You have to sign up in advance. There are no open slots available. Just try to sign up at any drug store in the Chicago area. The teachers have signed up with their regular doctors to get vaccinated when the doctors get vaccines. But there is no relief in sight. Keep trying, @Jimbo.

Comment by Abdon Thursday, Feb 4, 21 @ 1:28 pm
A total failure of leadership. So while Mayor Lightfoot keeps pushing her flawed plan, Chicago has a stockpile of 120,000 vaccines more then enough to vaccinate 20,000 teachers to open the schools safely. This isn’t rocket science and a plan should have already been in place. Ship vaccines to every school in Chicago and schedule teachers to get vaccinated. Stand-off resolved, schools open safely.

Comment by Edgewater Ed Thursday, Feb 4, 21 @ 1:34 pm
How Mayor Lightfoot has not figured out a way to leverage her vaccine supply to get teachers back in the classroom is one of the great mysteries of her standoff with CTU. She could’ve undermined CTU by just vaccinating teachers like crazy on her own. Or she could’ve cut a deal with CTU for a quicker vaccination schedule as part of their negotiations. She’s done neither. Political malpractice.

Comment by TNR Thursday, Feb 4, 21 @ 1:52 pm
Weird. The alderman and mayor could have given their doses to teachers if it was so important to get kids back in school.

Comment by Ummmm Thursday, Feb 4, 21 @ 1:59 pm
The Chicago Department of Public Health is not holding those vaccines for an unknown reason. First, people due second shots have to be accounted for in the supply. Secondly, that supply includes other sites.

Comment by Mayor Lightweight Friday, Feb 5, 21 @ 12:09 pm