CHICAGO– U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) today hosted a roundtable with officials from the Southern 7 Health Department and Southern Illinois’s Community Health and Emergency Services. The group discussed efforts to address and mitigate hesitancy among those eligible for receiving a COVID-19 vaccine, especially among at-risk and communities of color, as well as how resources from President Biden’s recently-enacted American Rescue Plan will help with COVID-19 vaccine distribution and access in Illinois.
“I urge everyone in Illinois to get a COVID-19 vaccine when it is available to them, especially communities of color that have been dying at disproportionate rates from this virus and have understandable hesitations when it comes to trusting the safety of this vaccine and our medical system,” said Duckworth. “I’ll keep working with organizations and leaders in southern Illinois and across our state to do everything we can to earn trust and increase awareness throughout our communities that these vaccines are not only safe—they are one of the best things we can do to help end this pandemic and get things back to normal.
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Earlier this month, Senator Duckworth joined Senator Durbin in announcing that 45 Community Health Centers (CHCs) throughout Illinois will receive a total of $270 million in American Rescue Plan funding to support COVID-19 vaccination and health services for at-risk populations in urban and rural parts of the state. Last month, they announced the expansion of Illinois CHCs that will be eligible to directly receive vaccines through the Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Federally Qualified Health Center Program for COVID-19 Vaccination.
