Illinois reported the first case of the South African variant of COVID-19 on Thursday, health officials announced.
Meanwhile, more than 300 new COVID-19 vaccination sites were opened across the state in the last day, while hundreds of Walgreens stores across the state and some CVS locations are now administering vaccines
Here are the latest COVID-19 headlines across the state:
Illinois plans to expand vaccine eligibility in phase 1B, but will there be enough supply?
Illinois is set to expand the list of people eligible for COVID-19 vaccinations in Phase 1B of their implementation, but as the state struggles to vaccinate those already eligible under the current plan, how will this work?
Governor JB Pritzker said the offer has been growing steadily, but he also expressed optimism that another vaccine is almost being approved.
“This is something you know, in addition to the doses we are receiving and increasing every week, we are also seeing on February 26 that the Johnson and Johnson vaccine will reach the FDA, and there is a lot of optimism that they will get their emergency use authorization and therefore we can start adding these vaccines to Pfizer and Moderna, “said Pritzker. “The last thing is that the federal government has announced in the last 48 hours that new vaccine shipments are going. In addition to those coming to the United States, they go straight to the FQHCs [Federally Qualified Health Centers], and two pharmacies in Illinois. You heard yesterday that Walgreens will receive a large additional amount of vaccine and that amount will increase, which is very useful for all of us. “
Read more here.
For a complete view of where and how you can make an appointment in Illinois or where you can receive vaccine information for your area, click here.
Illinois reports 2,598 new coronavirus cases, 32 deaths, 95,000 vaccination ‘record’
The Illinois Department of Public Health reported 2,598 new cases of coronavirus on Friday, with 32 additional deaths attributed to the virus and a “record 95,000 doses of vaccine administered” the previous day.
According to the latest data from the IDPH, new and probable cases of coronavirus raise the total across the state to 1,158,431 since the start of the pandemic. Additional deaths bring the state to 19,873 during the pandemic.
In the past 24 hours, state laboratories reported 103,009 new specimens for testing. The state’s continuous positive rate for all COVID tests dropped to 3.1% and the positive rate for individuals dropped to 3.7%.
There were 1,915 individuals hospitalized due to COVID-19 in Illinois on Thursday night, with 437 of these patients in intensive care units and 211 patients on ventilators.
According to IDPH data, a total of 1,940,425 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine were delivered to providers in Illinois and Chicago, with another 445,200 doses allocated to the federal government’s program to assist long-term care facilities in vaccinating teams and patients. This brings the total number of doses sent to Illinois to 2,385,625.
On Thursday, 95,375 doses were administered, according to IDPH, which named the number as a “record”. The state administered 1,644,483 total doses of the vaccine, including 231,814 in long-term care facilities.
Pritzker will take a tour of the Cook County vaccination site
Illinois Governor JB Pritzker is due to visit a COVID-19 vaccination site in the suburban Cook district on Friday.
Pritzker is scheduled to join local authorities at 12 noon to visit the Federally Qualified Health Center vaccination site at Tia Martha’s Chicago Heights Community Health Center, located at 1536 Vincennes Avenue in Chicago Heights, according to his public schedule.
The event can be watched live on the video player above.
Illinois reports first case of South Africa’s COVID-19 variant
Illinois reported the first case of the South African variant of COVID-19 on Thursday, health officials announced.
The Illinois Department of Public Health said the first case of coronavirus variant B.1.351, first identified in South Africa, was found in the state. The confirmed variant was located on a resident of Rock Island, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported.
“We expected to see more cases of variants detected in Illinois, including strain B.1.351,” said IDPH director Dr. Ngozi Ezike. “These variants appear to spread more quickly, which can lead to more cases of COVID-19 and even another outbreak. Our best way to defeat this virus as quickly as possible is to use our masks and get vaccinated when it is our turn. “
In the United States, cases of B.1.351 were first reported in late January, health officials said. Studies suggest that the antibodies produced by the current COVID-19 vaccines recognize the variant, as well as offering “some protection”.
“IDPH will continue to work with local health departments, academic partners, laboratories and CDC to monitor cases. IDPH has increased its surveillance for this and other variants using genomic sequence tests on a larger number of samples,” said a statement.
Read more here.
Coronavirus in Illinois: 2,838 new cases, 102 deaths, 69K vaccinations reported on Thursday
The Illinois Department of Public Health reported more than 2,800 new cases of coronavirus on Thursday, with 102 additional deaths attributed to the virus and more than 69,000 doses of the vaccine administered the previous day.
According to the latest IDPH data, 2,838 confirmed and probable cases have been reported in the past 24 hours. These new cases raise the total across the state to 1,155,833 since the pandemic began.
Health officials noted that approximately 80 cases previously reported in McLean County have been removed in total due to false positives. IDPH said officials are currently reviewing the situation.
The additional 102 deaths bring the state to 19,841 deaths during the pandemic.
In the past 24 hours, state laboratories have reported 96,525 new specimens for testing. The state’s seven-day mobile positivity rate for all COVID tests was 3.3%, the same as the previous day, while the positivity rate in individuals dropped to 3.9%.
There are currently 1,954 individuals hospitalized due to COVID-19 in Illinois, with 448 of these patients in intensive care units and 227 patients currently on ventilators.
According to IDPH data, a total of 1,929,850 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine were delivered to providers in Illinois and Chicago, with another 456,100 doses allocated to the federal government program to assist long-term care facilities in vaccinating teams and patients. This brings the total number of doses sent to Illinois to 2,385,950.
Wednesday saw 69,029 doses administered, IDPH said, noting that the state administered 1,549,108 total doses of the vaccine, including 226,974 in long-term care facilities.
Check how your municipality’s COVID vaccination data compares to that of the state
As Illinois nears the end of its second week of Phase 1B COVID-19 vaccinations, health officials administered more than 1.5 million doses. Check the chart below to see how your county’s vaccines compare to those in the state.
Illinois Vaccinations
Over 300 new COVID vaccination sites open in Illinois
The state of Illinois added more than 300 new COVID-19 vaccination sites on the last day, health officials announced on Thursday, with hundreds more Walgreens stores across the state and some CVS locations now administering vaccines.
Another 339 Walgreens stores in Illinois have opened as vaccination sites since Wednesday, state officials said, as well as four CVS locations.
With that, the total number of vaccination posts in the state reaches 860.
You can find a complete list of vaccination locations in Illinois here.
Chicago and Cook County will not join Illinois in expanding phase 1B eligibility for COVID vaccine
Chicago and Cook County will not join Illinois in expanding who is eligible for Phase 1B coronavirus vaccinations later this month, officials said on Thursday.
Mayor Lori Lightfoot and Cook County Council President announced the decision in a joint statement, saying the city and county are not receiving enough doses of the vaccine to allow for expansion of eligibility along with the rest of the state in a decision. Gov. JB Pritzker announced the day before.
“Our goal is to vaccinate as many people as quickly and efficiently as possible. That said, our biggest challenge in doing so is the very limited supply of vaccine we are receiving. As we are progressing every day with vaccinating people in 1a and 1b, we are not currently receiving enough doses that would allow us to expand eligibility in these phases, “says the statement.
“Doing this in Chicago and Cook County would add well over a million people to 1b, and the result would be that those currently qualified, including the elderly, essential frontline workers and those in our most burdened communities with COVID, would have even more difficult to get a vaccine, “continued Lightfoot and Preckwinkle.
“These phases were established after careful study and consideration and are based on the guidelines of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. We recognize that the governor must make difficult choices and consider the needs across this diverse state, but given the limited supply of vaccine, we must also make difficult choices as leaders of the city and the state’s most populous county. We hope to expand eligibility as vaccine supplies increase. “
Read more here.