A Look At Which Counties Have The Most COVID Vaccine To Administer
CHICAGO (CBS) — The effort to find appointments comes down to just one thing -- is there vaccine available? And where?
CBS 2's Marie Saavedra reports from the United Center, looking at new data that shows us where in Illinois you have the best shot at finding a shot.
This data comes from the Illinois Department of Public Health. CBS 2 reached out to the agency for some context how how it decides where vaccine is directed.
So far, no response. So we'll let the numbers do the talking.
"It's like the left hand doesn't know what the right hand's doing."
That is Jacqui Harrison's description of what it's like for her trying to find a COVID vaccine.
"I believe I called at least seven different hotlines or COVID-related phone lines and I was basically told something different with each one," Harrison said.
It's well established that there isn't enough vaccine right now to meet the demand.
So where are the doses we do have?
The CBS 2 team dug into the data from the Illinois Department of Public Health. It showed the total inventory of vaccines per 1,000 people in each county in the state as of Monday.
Mapped here, the darker the color, the more doses, and downstate is dominant.
Pulaski County has 232 does per thousand. Adams County, home to Quincy has 244 for every thousand people living there, and Jackson County's the highest in the state with 246.
Compare that to our area. Cook County, excluding Chicago has just 24 available doses for every thousand residents. Its' even lower in Lake County where for every 1,000 there are just 21 doses.
Why the drastic differences?
Population certainly plays a role, along with a number of other factors. What we do know is more vaccine from all three providers should change these numbers for the better. Harrison certainly hopes so.
"Just make sure it makes sense, that you have enough for the respective areas," Harrrison said.
If you're wondering what county closest to us cracked the top ten in this ranking, it's Sangamon County, home to our state capitol.
You can see where your county ranks on the interactive map our team put together. It is live right now at CBS Chicago.com. Live, MS, CBS 2 News.
"I have gotten my first vaccine, I drove three hours down state to do it."
Like Marion Baumgarten of Oak park, and Gail Dobblehoff of Homewood.
"We've been on rides to places…like Beecher and just, like knocking, do you have any?"
Both women are from suburban Cook County and were willing to travel hours to different parts of the state anywhere they could book one.
And that got us thinking about how the vaccine is spread out across Illinois.
Obviously, population plays a role here. Chicagoland's demand outpaces all other areas. And we know the supply is still lacking. The hope is more doses will bring up county numbers, and bring more of you the shots you so desperately want.
