Starting Monday, all Illinois residents outside of Chicago aged 16 and older will become eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine as part of the state expansion to Phase 2 of vaccinations.

The Illinois Department of Public Health will make available 150,000 new first-dose vaccination appointments at the 11 state-run mass vaccination sites and area pharmacies in Cook and Collar counties, according to an April 8 news release from the office of Governor J.B. Pritzker.

While Chicago is not expanding eligibility until April 19, the city’s residents can get vaccinated at suburban sites.

Evanston residents can sign up to get a vaccine through the city’s Vaccine Interest Form, as well as the Cook County Community Vaccination Program. Retail providers are also providing vaccinations.

While some Cook County residents were notified that they were eligible under Phase 2 starting April 8, only a few vaccination sites in the county had open appointments for this group prior to April 12. The county will hold vaccination events open for all residents in Phase 2, though Evanston intends to continue prioritizing vaccination events by age, starting with residents 60 and older.

As of April 9, all Evanston residents qualifying under Phase 1A, 1B and 1B+ had the opportunity to receive at least one vaccine dose.

The city estimates 93 percent of Evanston residents 65 and older have received at least their first dose, which is above the national and state figures of 76 and 72 percent, respectively, as of April 6. Sixty-five percent of senior residents are fully vaccinated.

The city also reported 51 percent of Evanston residents 16 and older as having received at least one dose, with 24 percent fully vaccinated.

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