These sites are part of the city’s Protect Chicago Plus initiative that launched on Jan. 25, 2021, with the goal of ensuring that a significant part of the vaccine supply is delivered to 15 high-need communities based on their COVID-19 vulnerability index.
Equity has been the theme of the vaccine rollout. In a press conference to mark the opening of the United Center mass vaccination site on Tuesday March 9, Mayor Lori Lightfoot said, “Last week, 59% of vaccine doses went to Black and Latinx Chicagoan.”
During the same press conference Lightfoot and CDPH commissioner Dr. Allison Arawady confirmed that less than 40% of vaccine appointments initially booked at the United Center site were made by non-Chicagoans, more than 70% of which were white or Asian.
The sites in Austin are for Austin residents only. Yesterday, the city announced the inclusion of zip codes 60608, 60619, 60620, 60649, 60652, for the United Center vaccine site. However, after a few hours, the voucher code (CCVICHICAGO) for those area codes had reached its maximum usage, and complained on social media that they were no longer able to sign up. Calling the registration number has worked for some. If you live in those area codes, learn more details here.