MILAN, Illinois — The Rock Island County Health Department is holding its third public COVID-19 vaccination clinic Tuesday, Feb. 2, after winter weather cancelled last week's event. Health officials want to remind everyone of several changes going forward.
The drive-thru clinic is now by-appointment only, so online registrations beforehand are required. Those under Phase 1B, people age 65 and older and essential frontline workers, are eligible to register every Friday on the health department's Facebook page.
Health officials are stressing anyone with a scheduled time slot arrive no earlier than 15 minutes beforehand to avoid traffic jams on 78th Avenue.
775 people will get their first dose of the Moderna vaccine. 600 of those are rescheduled from last week's cancellation, and 175 time slots were added after more supply came in from the state.
The health department's online registration filled up in just minutes last week, and health officials are encouraging patience.
"You figure there's 143,000 people in Rock Island County, and each one needs 2. So, that's gonna take some time," Janet Hill with the health department says. "We hope that vaccine availability will increase, therefore doses and opportunities will increase. It's a little hard to guess but I need people to understand this is probably going to take months."
As for future clinic, the health department is working on a back-up location to prevent future cancellations.
The vaccination clinic runs from 9:00 A.M. to 2:00 P.M. on Tuesdays.