UPDATE: 2/15/21 12 PM: The health department confirmed Monday that the vaccine projections for the next three weeks are for first doses, specifically.
UPDATE 2/13/21 9 AM: The Tri-County health departments say they're scaling back vaccination appointments as the state drastically reduces the allocation of COVID-19 vaccines over the next few weeks---but the governor's office claims that's not quite the case. 
Peoria County is only expecting 500 doses a week for the next two weeks from the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH), and 1,000 during the week of Feb. 28-March 6. The county has consistently received around 2,000 per week since the vaccines first rolled out in December.
Tazewell County will receive 400 doses a week for the next two weeks, and 800 from Feb. 28-March 6. Woodford County will see just 200 vaccines for the next two weeks, and 300 from Feb. 28-March 6.
"The allocation of vaccine from the Illinois Department of Public Health to the local health departments has been reduced for the next two weeks. The reduction in vaccine shipment reduces the number of appointments available to schedule," read a joint statement from the Tri-County health departments.
Because of the reduction in allocations, the health departments in those counties said they will not expand the 1B vaccination group to include people with comorbidities like cancer, diabetes, and heart conditions until they're confident of a more consistent supply.
On Wednesday, Gov. JB Pritzker announced he was expanding 1B eligibility to those groups starting Feb. 25.
But on Friday night, the governor's office pushed back on the numbers released by the local health departments.
"Counties are getting the same or more total doses than they have in previous weeks. The only difference is which doses are first doses and which ones are second doses," said a spokesperson for the governor. "In the coming weeks the first wave of people who got shots will need their second doses. So the allocations will need to ensure they are covered. The total number of doses going to counties has not been slashed."
WCBU also reached out to IDPH for more information on the reasons behind the vaccine allocation cuts.
"As vaccine rollout continues, more doses need to be used for second doses, therefore the number of first doses has to decrease for counties statewide," IDPH replied in a emailed statement to questions posed by a WCBU reporter.
Earlier this week, Peoria City/County Health Department Administrator Monica Hendrickson said the local health care system has the capacity to do up to 15,000 vaccinations a week. The major stumbling block in quickly ramping up the pace remains the limited vaccine supply, she said.
The number of appointments available to schedule for those in the current 1A and 1B waves will be reduced, but the Tazewell County Health Department said all confirmed appointments should still expect a vaccination.
As of Thursday, Peoria County had 7,360 vaccines in inventory. That included 3,510 at the health department, and another 3,850 at community partners, like the hospitals and Heartland Health Services. Tazewell County had 1,490 vaccines in inventory. Woodford had 1,240.
On Wednesday, U.S. Rep. Cheri Bustos, D-Moline, told reporters the federal government would soon roll out a system to forecast vaccine allocations three weeks in advance, instead of the one week that's been the current standard.
The health departments ask residents to continue wearing masks, social distancing, and frequently washing their hands.
This story will be updated.
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