Rockford Sun

There appears to be a failure to communicate accurately on the part of Winnebago County and the State of Illinois that is ultimately proving costly to taxpayers seeking protection from the COVID-19 virus.

As other state counties have received an allocation of the vaccine, Winnebago officials have grown frustrated as an expected 5,000 doses of the Moderna shot failed to show up.

State officials believe they are not at fault. WIFR reported officials from Gov. J.B. Pritzker's office said the county failed to fill out an order for the week. They also stated the county was only entitled to 500 doses, not the 5,000 it thought.

Dr. Sandra Martell | LinkedIn

Winnebago County Public Health Administrator Sandra Martell said the county was working with the state to resolve the matter.

"We are working through the state with that," Martell said on Feb. 10, WIFR reported. "We are dependent on them, and we've been checking with them about what that is. It could be the state allocation."

After the state made its announcement regarding what had happened to the county's vaccine allotment, the county's health department released a statement in response.

"The Winnebago County Health Department appreciates the advocacy from our community, including the media, elected officials, and others regarding the shortage of Moderna vaccine for the week," the department said, WIFR reported. "We have been in contact with the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) and have resubmitted the order for Moderna as advised by IDPH. They will ship the vaccine when it becomes available. The Pfizer order for the week had been received as shared at the press briefing. We will provide an update when the Moderna vaccine order is received."

The most current COVID-19 figures from Winnebago County dated to Feb. 12 show there are 53 cases with a seven-day rolling positivity rate that has dropped 3.9%. The county has also administered a total of 31,818 vaccine doses.