Skip to main content

Illinois Department of Public Health Announces College Vaccination Days to Encourage Students to Receive COVID-19 Vaccinations

News – Friday, April 16, 2021

Vaccinations available at state-supported mass vaccination sites for College and University Students Across Illinois

SPRINGFIELD – With young people driving the increase in COVID-19 cases in Illinois, the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) is announcing “College Vaccination Days” to encourage all community college and public and private university students across Illinois to get vaccinated at mass vaccination sites.  This weekend and next week state-supported mass vaccination sites across Illinois will have COVID-19 vaccination appointments available for college and university students.  IDPH is partnering with colleges and universities in Illinois to help them direct their students to state-supported sites.

Beginning in April, the highest case count in Illinois was among those in their 20s.  Over the past month, cases among those 18-24 years of age doubled.

“Our young adults have a key role to play in bringing this pandemic to an end, and I’m proud to make it easier for our community college and public and private university students to access these life-saving vaccines,” said Governor JB Pritzker.  “Getting vaccinated is about protecting yourself, but it’s also about protecting your professors, your parents, your peers, campus staff, and the greater community you call home.” 

“College campuses are microcosms of the communities in which they are located, and if we see an increase in cases on campus, we will see an increase in cases in the community,” said IDPH Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike.  “Especially as we are starting to see variants become more prevalent and the number of cases and hospitals increasing statewide, we need to vaccinate as many people as possible as quickly as possible. With young people driving our increase in cases, this is an important opportunity for our college and university students to protect themselves and their communities.”

The following mass vaccination sites will have appointments available specifically for college and university students on the following days.  Colleges and universities will have the links where students can register for an appointment.

Saturday April 17

Location Address

Adams County
Oakley Linsey Center

300 Civic Center Plaza
Quincy

Sunday April 18

Location Address

Kane County
Former Carson Pirie Scott

970 North Lake St.
Aurora

Kane County
Elgin Eastside Recreation Center

1800 E. Chicago St.
Elgin

Kane County
Former Sam’s Club

501 N. Randall Rd.
Batavia

Madison County
Gateway Convention Center

1 Gateway Drive
Collinsville

Sangamon County
Orr Building – State Fairgrounds

801 E. Sangamon Ave.
Springfield

St. Clair County
Belle-Clair Fairgrounds

200 S. Belt East
Belleville

Winnebago County
Former K-Mart

1321 Sandy Hollow Rd.
Rockford

Monday April 19

Location Address

Cook County
Arlington Heights Health Center

3250 N. Arlington Heights Rd.
Arlington Heights

Cook County
Former K-Mart

1155 E. Oakton St.
Des Plaines

Cook County
Forest Park - Former HOBO

7600 Roosevelt Rd.
Forest Park

Cook County
Matteson – Former Target

4647 Promenade Way
Matteson

Cook County
South Suburban College

15800 State St.
South Holland

Cook County
Tinley Park Convention Center

18451 Convention Center Drive
Tinley Park

Cook County
Triton College

2000 5th Ave.
River Grover

Tuesday April 20

Location Address

DuPage County
Fairgrounds Building 1

2015 Manchester Rd.
Wheaton

Grundy County
Shabbona Middle School

725 School St.
Morris

Lake County
Lake County Fairgrounds

1060 E. Peterson Rd.
Grayslake

Will County
Former Toys R Us

3128 Voyager Lane
Joliet

Mass vaccination sites in DeKalb, McDonough, and McLean counties have been and will continue to provide vaccinations to students as part of the Rapid Response Vaccination Teams that are deployed to areas seeing increasing cases.

All mass vaccination locations will be administering either Moderna, or Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.  At the recommendation of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, IDPH is pausing the use of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine and it will not be administered at mass vaccination sites until further guidance from the CDC.  Students can make appointments to get their second doses of the vaccine when getting their first dose. 

For information on how to make an appointment to receive the vaccine at other mass vaccination sites or other locations, visit coronavirus.illinois.gov. For those having difficulty navigating online services to make vaccination appointments, the State’s Vaccine Appointment Call Center can help.  The call center, at 1-833-621-1284, is available seven days a week from 6 a.m. to midnight, can take TTY calls, and uses both English and Spanish speaking call agents with the

availability for translation into other languages. Answers to frequently asked questions about the COVID-19 vaccines can be found on the IDPH website.