Kane County Health Department officials are deciding what to do with the lease for the county vaccination hub in Batavia which expires Nov. 1 as U.S. health officials discuss a plan to dispense COVID-19 vaccine booster shots this fall.
The lease on the Batavia KaneVax site, a vacant retail space that formerly housed a Sam’s Club, runs out Nov. 1. Under the terms of the lease, the county uses around 20,000 square feet of the 137,000-square-foot building at a cost not to exceed $220,000.
While other county mass COVID-19 vaccination sites have closed permanently, including sites in Aurora and Elgin, after a decrease in the number of people coming for shots, the Batavia site remains open on Wednesdays and Saturdays.
News came Wednesday from U.S. health officials about a plan to dispense booster shots to all Americans to shore up their protection against COVID-19 amid the surging delta variant. The plan calls for an extra dose eight months after people received their second shot of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine. The doses could begin the week of Sept. 20.
People who received the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine will also likely need an extra shot, but health officials are still waiting for more data.
Kane County health officials are waiting on more guidance from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the state in terms of how the booster shots will be given out, Michael Isaacson, assistant director of community health for the Kane County Health Department, said.
“We are prepared to ramp up to provide vaccines and we will make sure everyone who wants a booster shot once it’s officially recommended will be able to get them,” Isaacson said.
Health officials will look at the availability of the vaccine at other locations to explore if people need to come to a county-run site or if there are places more convenient for residents to get the booster shot, he said.
During the month of July, Isaacson said health officials saw a decreased number of people receiving vaccines in the county, with an average of around 1,000 a day. But in the past week, they have seen around 1,400 shots given out a day.
“We’ve seen an increase in getting shots in the last week or so and it’s a combination of factors,” Isaacson said. “We’re hearing people are nervous about the delta variant and families are also headed back to school and are seeing the benefit in the vaccine to avoid a disruption in activities.”
Kane County Board member Vern Tepe said the health department may have to reopen the mass vaccination sites it closed to meet the demand for booster shots in late September.
As infection numbers continue to climb from the delta variant, health officials said that more than 250,000 Kane County residents are fully vaccinated, totaling about 52% of the population, including residents too young to receive the vaccine. Around 75% of the population 12 years old and older has had at least one dose of the vaccine as of Aug. 17, Kane County Director of Health Protection Uche Onwuta said.
Kane County has reached what the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention designates a “high” level of community COVID-19 transmission. Over the past week, the rate of COVID-19 tests returning positive is nearly 7%.
Onwuta said regardless of someone’s vaccination status, people should wear masks indoors in public areas of substantial or high transmission. She said infections are occurring among vaccinated people, although at a rate less than unvaccinated people. Vaccines have shown to protect against severe illness and hospitalization due to COVID-19, she said.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
mejones@chicagotribune.com
