Cook County hosting free measles vaccination clinic at Palatine church

The Cook County Department of Public Health announced Monday it will host a free measles vaccination clinic at a Palatine church on Friday and next Tuesday for residents who believe they may have been exposed during a recent outbreak of the disease.

Sean McDermott, a spokesman for the department, said all Northwest suburban residents who do not know their measles vaccination status are welcome to the clinic, which will take place at All Saints Lutheran Church, 630 S. Quentin Road.

Thirteen of the 15 confirmed measles cases in Cook County have been associated with the KinderCare Learning Center at 929 E. Palatine Road in Palatine, and a 14th case was linked to a Palatine business and health care clinic.

Last week, Illinois Department of Public Health Director Nirav Shah said the department is still a few weeks away from being able to say the outbreak is in its dying stages.

The county health department's announcement Monday included a list of three Palatine locations that the state's most recent measles patient visited before receiving treatment: The LaRosita Laundromat at 1212 E. Dundee Road on Feb. 16; and The Vista Health Center and the Northwest Community Resource Center, both at 1585 North Rand Road, on Feb. 19.

McDermott said the department included the list of locations out of an abundance of caution to let people who visited those places know they can get a free vaccine.

McDermott said the vaccination clinic is the first hosted by the department in several years. The department held large clinics for a myriad immunizations more than 15 years ago, but they became unnecessary because so many were immunized through their primary health care physician, he said.

The clinic will be open from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Friday, March 6, and from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. next Tuesday, March 10.

For more information on the clinic, call the Cook County Department of Public Health at (847) 818-4020.