Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker visited the Lake County Fairgrounds Wednesday morning to tour the newly launched drive-thru vaccination site.
The fairgrounds, which is located at 1060 East Peterson Road in Grayslake, is one of several vaccination sites in Lake County.
It operates three days a week and staff are vaccinating healthcare workers who are part of the Phase 1A group.
Currently, the Lake County Health Department is administering the vaccines by appointment only due to a limited supply of doses. Approximately 600 vaccines are administered at the fairgrounds a day.
Pritzker held a press briefing at the facility and said the goal is to expand operations to seven days a week with expanded hours.
Area pharmacies, hospitals, healthcare providers and other providers throughout the state are already beginning to move into Phase 1B, which includes frontline essential workers and all residents 65 years and older.
There are nearly 300 vaccination locations that have been launched throughout Illinois, according to the state.
“As vaccine doses arrive, Illinois is ready to administer them. I want to remind everyone to be patient, however, vaccine supplies coming from the two vaccine manufacturers are still limited. Because of the limited supply, vaccine appointments are also limited,” Pritzker said.
Pritzker said that the Biden Administration announced an increase in weekly vaccine allocations to states starting next week. President Biden has also secured an additional 200 million doses from Pfizer and Moderna.
Lake County Health Department Executive Director Mark Pfister urged all residents to sign up on the county’s vaccination registration site. Over 300,000 Lake County residents have already signed up.
The Illinois Department of Public Health reported 3,751 new cases and 81 additional deaths on Wednesday. The state’s positivity rate is 4.5%.
Nearly 1.8 million vaccine doses have been delivered to Illinois as of Wednesday, according to state data.