News in brief: United Center to open as vaccine site March 10

UNITED CENTER VACCINE SITE — The United Center is scheduled to open March 10 as a federal vaccination site with capacity to administer 6,000 doses of the vaccine daily, Gov. JB Pritzker, Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle, Mayor Lori Lightfoot, and U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth and Dick Durbin announced Friday. The mass vaccination site, piloted by President Joe Biden’s administration, “prioritizes access for seniors and equity for the hardest hit populations,” and will operate seven days a week for eight weeks, according to a news release. Vaccines administered at the United Center will come from the federal government’s supply, separate from the city’s and state’s allotments. Seniors will be granted access to vaccination appointments before the United Center site opens, and the site will continue to operate by appointment only for all residents of Illinois who are eligible for the vaccine. “The United Center is one of the best locations for vaccinating large numbers of people in America: it’s easy to get to, is in the midst of a medically underserved community, can handle large crowds and is well known to everyone in Illinois,” Pritzker said in a statement. Lightfoot called the site “a game changer” and Preckwinkle said it “brings us another step forward in our equity-centered COVID-19 vaccination plan.” According to the news release, the Federal Emergency Management Agency will manage the vaccination site along with the U.S. Department of Defense, State of Illinois, Cook County and the City of Chicago. (Erin Hegarty)