Thankfully, I got my first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine today, and I’m pretty stoked to be on the path to returning to feeling like I can just go and be and do normal things again. Ohio opened up vaccinations to anyone over 16 late last week, and I was able to get an appointment for this morning at a mass vaccination clinic. They were pumping people in and out pretty swiftly, so that was nice to see.
I mention all of that not only because of the timing, but because today, Chicago’s Mayor announced that Gallagher Way at Wrigley Field will soon be utilized as a mass vaccination site:
BREAKING: Mass vaccination sites next to Wrigley Field and at Chicago State University will open Monday. They'l be able to vaccinate more than 5,000 people per day. https://t.co/UvKGgivMnw pic.twitter.com/truGHjW36K
— Block Club Chicago (@BlockClubCHI) March 30, 2021
“The site at the American Airlines Conference Center at Gallagher Way will be operated by Advocate Aurora Health, with workers there able to administer about 2,000 doses per day, according to the Mayor’s Office. Appointments will be required. The city did not immediately say what hours and days it will be open.”
Having vaccinations available at pharmacies and doctor’s offices is great and absolutely necessary in rural areas. But for more densely populated spots, if you can set up a lot of these kinds of specifically-dedicated locations for mass vaccinations, you’re just going to be way more efficient.
The direct connection to baseball here is not just the location of the site, but also the reminder that attendance capacities at Wrigley Field will be directly tied to vaccination levels in the state, according to Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker. So the more people who get vaccinated – at Wrigley Field or elsewhere – the more people can safely attend games there this season.
The United Center has already long been used as a mass vaccination site.