Cook County Announces Second Large Scale Community Vaccination Site at Triton College to Open Wednesday

(CHICAGO) – Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle and Cook County Health System CEO Israel Rocha announced today that Cook County will open a vaccine administration site at Triton College beginning Wednesday, February 3, 2021 to continue vaccinations for individuals eligible under 1b. 

Phase 1b includes individuals age 65 and older and essential workers such as first responders, manufacturing employees and grocery store personnel. While an estimated 600,000 suburban individuals are eligible for the vaccine under Phase 1b, officials continue to remind the public that there is currently not adequate vaccine supply to vaccinate everyone.  

“While current vaccine supply does not meet the demand – we are standing up large scale sites now to ensure that we are ready as vaccine supply is expected to increase in the coming weeks and months," said Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle.

Triton College, located in River Grove, is the second large-scale site Cook County has operationalized following the opening of a site at the Tinley Park Convention Center on January 26, 2021. Nearly 7,000 vaccines were administered at the Tinley Park Convention Center in its first week. When fully operationalized and when ample vaccine supply becomes available, Cook County Health estimates it will be able to provide more than 4,000 vaccines weekly at Triton College. Cook County expects to open additional large vaccinations sites in the coming weeks.

Vaccinations at all Cook County Health sites will be provided by appointment only. Cook County Health will offer appointment slots based on the amount of vaccine on hand and will add appointments as new vaccine shipments arrive.

Cook County Health will release appointments at Triton College at 9:00AM on Tuesday, February 2, 2021. Appointments can be made at vaccine.cookcountyil.gov. Individuals without internet access or who need assistance scheduling can call (833) 308-1988 (from 7a.m. to 7p.m., Monday - Friday). 

“We are asking Cook County residents for their continued patience as we work to ramp up one of the largest County-operated vaccine programs in the country,” said Israel Rocha, CEO, Cook County Health.

In addition to Cook County Health sites, the Cook County Department of Public Health has distributed vaccines to more than 90 partner locations including Jewel-Osco, Mariano’s, Walgreens, Federally Qualified Health Centers and hospitals who are also offering vaccines by appointment. A complete listing of these sites can be found at www.cookcountypublichealth.org. Additional sites can be found at https://coronavirus.illinois.gov/s/vaccination-location. 

In the weeks ahead and pending vaccine availability, Cook County plans to open at least four additional large sites across the suburbs. County officials expect Phase 1b to take some time and caution residents to remember that moving through the various phases is contingent on the availability of the vaccine. 

Residents not yet eligible for the vaccine can also sign up at vaccine.cookcountyil.gov to receive updates on their phase and for information on dozens of additional vaccination sites across Cook County.