Advocate Condell to resume COVID-19 vaccinations after 4 workers have adverse reactions

Advocate Condell Medical Center in Libertyville will resume its COVID-19 vaccination program on Sunday after four of its health care workers experienced adverse reactions to shots they received on Thursday, causing a temporary pause in vaccinations at the site.

One worker, who was discharged from the hospital on Saturday after spending the night for observation, experienced what appeared to be a severe allergic reaction, according to a statement from Advocate Aurora Health. The three other workers experienced "reactions that can happen with vaccination" and were "doing well" at home.

"Team member safety guides our decision making, and our review confirmed the quality of the vaccine batch and our protocols for distributing the vaccine," the statement from Advocate Aurora Health read. "We proactively notified the CDC, state and local health departments of the situation, and they concurred with our plans to resume vaccinations."

The decision came after what Advocate Aurora Health described as a thorough internal review that included input from infectious disease and clinical experts. In response to the review, Advocate Aurora Health will increase its post-vaccine evaluation period to 30 minutes.

Vaccinations at eight other Advocate centers in Illinois and three in Wisconsin continued with no delay, according to Advocate Aurora Health. Approximately 6,000 of its workers have received the vaccination so far.