Many Illinois residents getting COVID-19 vaccine envy as nearby states expand eligibility more quickly
CHICAGO — Carolyn Kritzer of Munster, Indiana, recently booked an appointment for her first dose of COVID-19 vaccine and described the process as “seamless.”
Once eligible, the 58-year-old went to her state’s centralized online system, typed in her information and secured a time slot in a matter of minutes. In contrast, her co-worker Ruth Mares — a 60-year-old essential worker who lives just a few miles over the state border in south suburban Lansing, Illinois — has been constantly checking and refreshing a variety of local pharmacy and health care websites, with no luck in finding an appointment so far.
The women are roughly the same age, work in the same field and live minutes from one another. Yet they’re navigating entirely different state processes and rules, with disparate results.
Mares believes that if her home were a few miles east in Indiana ― which has a predominantly age-based approach and recently began vaccinating all residents 45 or older — she would be immunized by now.
“I would have already been done with it,” she said.
With potentially lifesaving vaccine still in short supply, many Illinois residents have looked longingly at nearby states ― some with a reportedly easier
