New COVID-19 Vaccination Site to Open in Cicero

Image description: A man with black and gray hair, wears a black face mask, a black t-shirt, brown scarf wrapped around his neck and a orange snow hat. The man is sitting in a chair. To her right is a man, in a white lab coat, clear face shield, whi…

Anastacio Montalvo receives the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine on Thursday, February 4th, 2021 at the Carr Center in Cicero, Ill. (Photo by Michael Izquierdo).

By Michael Izquierdo

Since the pandemic began, the Town of Cicero and Berwyn have had some of the highest numbers of COVID-19 in suburban Cook County. Although the COVID-19 vaccine offers hope for many, disparities in its distribution are making it difficult for people in some of the hardest hit areas to get appointments.

Now, Cicero residents will soon have access to another vaccination site in the area with capacity to administer 334 COVID-19 vaccines per day.

According to an agreement obtained through a Freedom Information Act request, Prism Health Lab, located at 1815 S. Laramie Avenue, will be distributing the vaccine to qualifying residents and setting up an online support center and telephone hotline to provide assistance for people who need help with registration or have questions. The agreement says that Prism Health lab will never directly charge patients for COVID-19 services.

The agreement was drafted on February 1 and approved by the Town board on February 24. In an emailed statement, the Town spokesperson said the Town of Cicero Health Department will be making a registration link public soon but did not give more details.

Below is a list of current locations that offer the COVID-19 vaccine to Cicero and Berwyn residents eligible under the Illinois Department of Public Health and local health department guidelines. People who are part of the 1a and 1b groups are currently able to make appointments for the vaccine. These include health workers, caretakers, grocery and manufacturing employees and childcare workers amongst others.

All vaccination sites require you to make an appointment on their website or by phone. Please note that vaccines are limited at this moment.

If there is a vaccination site that we missed, please email us at info@ciceroindependiente.com . Click on the box to view full details of each location. If you are viewing this on a desktop browser, click “view larger version” to expand.

Additional reporting by Irene Romulo

Michael Izquierdo is a local freelance journalist and a contributing reporter for Cicero Independiente.