March 3, 2021 – Illinois continues to lag behind most other states in getting people fully vaccinated for the coronavirus.
Thus far, 6.8% of Illinoisans have received two shots. That is 46th in the country and compares to seven other states that have fully vaccinated over 10% of its residents.
“We need to ask everybody for continued patience and I think we are all frustrated because we would like to get vaccinated today,” Governor J.B. Pritzker said Tuesday in Aurora.
Pritzker said there just aren’t enough vaccines to go around. Over 100,000 doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine are expected to arrive in Illinois this week.
Following the recent emergency use approval of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, President Joe Biden announced Tuesday that all U.S. adults will be able to receive a coronavirus vaccine by the end of May.
The emergency approval of the third vaccine, in addition to the collaboration between Merck and Johnson & Johnson, was instrumental in moving the target of the vaccines being available to all adult Americans from July to the end of May. Biden credited a “stepped-up process” in seeing the timeline accelerated by two months.
The federal mass vaccination site at the United Center in Chicago will begin to take appointments Thursday for Illinois senior citizens.
