Local Healthcare Practitioners Asked To Indicate Interest In Receiving COVID-19 Vaccine

Press release from the McHenry County Health Department:

The McHenry County Department of Health (MCDH) is requesting all McHenry County healthcare practitioners to indicate if they are interested in receiving COVID-19 vaccines for themselves and staff.

A point of contact from each organization or the independent practitioner not affiliated with an organization from each of the following groups is encouraged to complete a REDCap survey available at http://redcap.link/hcpvaccine to indicate COVID-19 vaccine interest among their staff:

• Behavioral and mental health practitioners
• Dental health providers
• Private primary care physicians not affiliated with an organization
• Outpatient healthcare services
• Dialysis centers
• Home healthcare
• School nurses
• Congregate living facility employees

This is not a form to register to receive the vaccine. MCDH will continue to communicate to these groups, and when they are able to register for the vaccine, through its e-notifications system and social media.

If you are a physician and wish to administer the COVID-19 vaccine at your own office, you will be asked if you are registered with ICARE for the COVID-19 vaccine. If you are not registered, you will need to do so.

Those who will need to receive their shot at a MCDH clinic will need to bring current identification and proof of their employment (employment badge, paycheck stub, state licensure or certificate). If that information is not provided at the time of your appointment, MCDH reserves the right to deny you the vaccine.

“Individuals who work in these respective healthcare practices are putting themselves at risk and are potentially putting their clients at risk,” said MCDH Public Health Nursing Director Susan Karras. “We want to protect these priority practitioners because of their close proximity to those they provide essential services to while also doing as much as possible to keep from overburdening our hospitals.”

Residents are urged to continue to do their part in preventing the spread of COVID-19 by:

• Wearing a mask whenever outside your home or with anyone not from your household
• Watching your distance, staying at least 6 feet from people and avoiding in-person gatherings
• Washing your hands often

For more information about COVID-19 vaccine distribution in McHenry County and signing up for e-notifications, please visit the COVID-19 Vaccine page.

This press release was produced by the McHenry County Health Department. The views expressed here are the author’s own.