As local health departments battle COVID-19, the first vaccines are rolling out in England and parts of the US. Health officials in Illinois are expecting a shipment of 109,000 vaccine doses sometime in December. Among the counties that are receiving the vaccine will be counties that have the highest death rates. According to federal guidelines, the first vaccines will be dedicated to the hospitals and health care workers in those counties. Counties in the Regional Radio Listening area include Macon, Shelby, Christian, and Dewitt Counties. 

The hope is that when the vaccines are distributed that they will have enough to start getting into the long term care facilities to vaccinate those residents. There are two doses for the vaccines that will need to be spaced apart. Governor JB Pritzker has said he is not sure how long it would take to vaccinate those first in line.