COVID vaccination rollout continues in Knox County

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Knox County is moving on to Phase 1B of the COVID-19 vaccine rollout but this phase could take a while.

Public Health Administrator Michele Gabriel says as they move on to groups that represent large parts of the local population, she says they’re currently only getting about 1,000 doses a week.

Phase 1B includes residents 65 and older and many essential frontline workers. The frontline essential workers designation includes many residents who carry a higher risk of COVID-19 exposure because of their work duties.

This is often because they can’t work from home, and/or they must work closely with others without being able to socially distance themselves.

This includes some of the largest lines of employment in the area; first responders, education, food and agriculture, manufacturing, corrections workers and inmates, USPS workers, public transit workers, grocery store workers, and staff at shelters and daycares.

Gabriel says for now the health department is fielding questions from those in the Phase 1B group and their employers, and that those wondering when and how they will receive the vaccine should contact the health department.

Cottage patients aged 65 and older will be notified of their walk-in clinic. The clinic will administer the first round of the Moderna vaccination, with a second dose to follow 28 days later.

Those eligible and that are OSF patients will be contacted to schedule appointments. The clinic starts on Thursday and will continue until the 25th by appointment.

The Knox County Unified Command COVID vaccine center will open at the Knox County Farm Bureau Office to administer vaccines to people over the age of 65 as well from 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., Thursday and Friday.

Vaccines will largely be administered on a first-come, first-serve basis at clinics. Those with mobility issues are suggested to wait until vaccine numbers are high enough for the Health Department to conduct drive-through vaccinations.

The first phase of vaccinations included frontline healthcare workers as well as residents and staff of long-term care facilities. More than 1 percent of Knox County’s population received vaccines in that category.

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