CDC gives $124M for Illinois vaccine efforts; Chicago to receive $33M
CHICAGO - The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Tuesday it will be giving over $124 million to support local vaccination efforts in Illinois.
Chicago will receive over $33 million of the fundingin to go toward increasing vaccine equity and helping communities disproportionately ravaged by the virus.
"We are doing everything we can to expand access to vaccinations," CDC Director Dr. Rochelle P. Walensky said in a statement. "Millions of Americans are getting vaccinated every day, but we need to ensure that we are reaching those in the communities hit hardest by this pandemic. This investment will support state and local health departments and community-based organizations as they work on the frontlines to increase vaccine access, acceptance, and uptake."
Stipulations with the funding dictate that 75 percent of the money goes toward "specific programs and initiatives intended to increase vaccine access, acceptance, and uptake among racial and ethnic minority communities."
The news release also states 60 percent of the funding must go to local health departments and community-based organizations.
"With this new funding from the Biden/Harris administration, Illinois will move quickly to further expand our aggressive efforts to reach those most vulnerable to COVID-19," J.B. Pritzker said in a statment. "With mass vaccination sites across the state, rural vaccination teams reaching those with less access to healthcare, and partnerships with trusted providers in underserved communities, we have built the infrastructure to end this pandemic as quickly as possible, and these new resources will only help us reach that day even sooner."
The award comes from $3 billion in CDC funding earmarked for 64 locations across the country to assist local governments in increasing vaccine access and distribution.
This is a developing story.