Duckworth, Durbin Announce More Than $8 Million For COVID-19 Vaccine Preparedness In Illinois

[WASHINGTON, D.C.] – U.S. Senators Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) and Dick Durbin (D-IL) today announced that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has awarded $6.2 million to the Illinois Department of Public Health and $1.9 million to the Chicago Department of Public Health to help prepare for an eventual distribution of a safe and effective COVID-19 vaccine, upon regulatory review from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The funding, which is from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, will provide critical infrastructure support, such as data monitoring capabilities, for eventual vaccination distribution and administration. 

“All Illinoisans deserve access to the best healthcare possible—and that means equal access for all to the COVID-19 vaccine when it is safe, effective and ready for the masses,” Duckworth said. “I’m proud to work with Senator Durbin to help bring critical federal funding to public health departments so they can prepare for distribution of the eventual COVID-19 vaccine, and we will continue doing all we can to help Illinois get through this pandemic.”

“This federal funding will help ensure that once a safe and effective vaccine is determined by our public health agencies to be ready, Illinois will be prepared to successfully deliver it to people in every corner of our state,” Durbin said. “Senator Duckworth and I remain committed to providing our state and local health departments and experts with the federal funding needed to get through this crisis.”

This CARES Act funding is part of $200 million the CDC is distributing to communities around the country for vaccine preparedness, with the amount each jurisdiction receives determined by a population-based formula.

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