With young people driving the increase in COVID-19 cases in Illinois, the Illinois Department of Public Health 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. Madison County Gateway Convention Center, 1 Gateway Drive in Collinsville, will have appointments available Sunday, April 18, specifically for college and university students on the following days. Colleges and universities will have the links where students can register for an appointment. 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 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. Read more | 
