COVID update in Illinois today: IL reports 2,838 new coronavirus cases, 102 deaths, as Walgreens vaccine programming begins

CHICAGO (WLS) – Selected Walgreens from across the country will begin vaccinating those eligible for COVID-19 on Friday.

They give priority to healthcare work, those over 65 and those with pre-existing conditions. At begining of the week, The Walgreens site has crashed when people who wanted the vaccine hurried to register.

Chicago and area counties will not extend 1B eligibility

While the state could generally expand on who is eligible to be vaccinated in Group 1B, the city of Chicago and not one of the counties with a collar will follow suit.

“We have administered the vaccine as soon as the supply allows,” said Cook County President Toni Preckwinkle. “And now we are in the same situation as LA County, where we will temporarily close some sites because we have exhausted the current vaccine supply. While other parts of the state may be ready to move on to the next phase, Chicago and Cook County I’m not. “

Wednesday’s government JB Pritzker and IDPH extended Group 1B to those over 16 with comorbidities and underlying conditions as defined by the CDC. In addition, Illinois will give priority to people with disabilities, all effective on Feb. 25, even though IDPH Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike acknowledged that supply continues to be an issue.

However, the governor insisted that he remains optimistic the offer will increase in the coming weeks, especially with the Johnson & Johnson vaccine which will be approved by the end of the month.

“It’s a single-dose vaccine,” Pritzker said. “It will be an important development in the world of vaccines and it will help us a lot to vaccinate everyone.”

The extended high risk categories include:
-Cancer

-Chronic kidney disease
-COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease)
-Diabetes
-The State of the Heart
-Immunocompromised condition from a solid organ transplant
-Obesity
-Task
-Lung disease
– Sickle cell bullet

In a statement, the governor’s spokesman said the vaccine supply has already begun to grow and that “the most medically vulnerable in our state should qualify for vaccination as soon as possible.” , because “this group includes a disproportionately high share of vulnerable people of color. “

Governor Pritzker visits the Elgin vaccine site

Pritzker on Thursday morning presented an update on vaccination efforts at the Elgin Mental Health Center in Elgin.

The human services vaccination site in Elgin is home to many patients and has dozens of staff members. On Thursday morning, 50 patients and staff members received the second dose of COVID-19 vaccine.

South African variant COVID-19 detected in IL

The South African variant of COVID-19 was detected in Illinois.

The Illinois Department of Public Health reported Thursday that the first cases of COVID B.1.351 were confirmed in the state to a Rock Island resident. The state currently reports 22 cases of variant B 1.1.7 in the United Kingdom.

Doctors say it is very likely that the South African version will already spread throughout the state.

“The concern is that some of these variants seem to appear, as I have said more often, suggesting that there is something about them that gives them an advantage over other versions of COVID,” said Dr. Mary Hayden, head of the Division. of Infectious Diseases at Rush University Medical Center.

Both variants appear to be spreading faster, health officials said, and could lead to more cases of the virus or even another wave.

“The South African variant is a little more problematic. It decreases the ability of vaccines to induce antibodies that would suppress it. But it does not completely eliminate it,” said Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

Doctors said vaccine manufacturers are starting to adjust the doses to keep up with the mutations. However, they reminded the public of the urgent need to wear a face mask, to stay at a social distance, to limit meetings in person outside the household of all sizes and to get vaccinated when it is your turn.

Meanwhile, Illinois health officials reported 2,825 new cases of COVID-19 and 102 deaths Thursday.

The total number of cases in Illinois now stands at 1,155,833, with a total of 19,841 deaths since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In the last 24 hours, laboratories reported 96,525 specimens for a total of 16,918,910.

How much protection does the COVID-19 vaccine offer? How you should approach vaccinated people by seeing others

As of Wednesday night, 1,954 patients in Illinois were reported to be in the hospital with COVID-19. Of these, 448 patients were in intensive care and 227 patients with COVID-19 were on ventilators.

The seven-day preliminary positive test nationwide from February 4-10 is 3.9%.

ABOUT: Illinois COVID Vaccine Map Shows How Many Vaccinated Residents by County

A total of 1,929,850 doses of vaccine were delivered to Illinois providers, including Chicago, with 456,100 additional doses allocated to federal government partners for long-term care facilities, bringing the total number delivered in Illinois to 2,385,950.

RELATED: Illinois Coronavirus Testing: Where COVID-19 is Tested in Illinois, Chicago

IDPH says vaccine distribution numbers are reported in real time, and vaccine administration numbers remain at up to 72 hours.

IDPH reports that a total of 1,549,108 doses of vaccine were administered, including 226,974 at long-term facilities. The seven-day average of vaccines administered is 56,094.

Deaths reported on Thursday include:

– Clay County: 1 woman of 80 years
– Clinton County: 1 woman of 80 years
– Coles county: 1 man of 60 years
– Cook County: 1 man 30, 1 woman 40, 1 man 40, 1 woman 50, 4 men 50, 6 women 60, 6 men 60, 7 women 70, 7 men 70, 7 women 80, 7 men 80, 4 women 90s, 2 men 90s
– DeKalb County: 1 woman from the 90s
– DuPage County: 1 woman of 40 years, 3 men of 70 years, 1 woman of 80 years, 1 man of 90 years
– Greene County: 1 woman aged 50
– Grundy County: 1 man aged 60 years

– Jefferson County: 1 80-year-old man
– Kane County: 1 man of 60 years, 1 man of 70 years, 1 woman of 90 years
– Knox County: 1 woman from the ’80s
– Lake County: 1 man aged 50 years
– Lawrence County: 1 man of 60 years
– Livingston County: 1 80-year-old man
– Logan County: 1 woman from the 90s
– Marion county: 1 man of 70 years
– McLean County: 1 60-year-old man
– Monroe County: 1 man of 70 years, 1 woman of 90 years
– Moultrie County: 1 man aged 70 years
– Randolph County: 1 man aged 70 years
– Sangamon County: 1 woman aged 70 years
– St. county Clair: 1 woman of 50 years, 1 woman of 90 years
– Stephenson County: 1 80-year-old man
– Tazewell County: 1 woman of 40 years, 1 woman of 50 years, 1 man of 70 years, 1 woman of 90 years
– Vermilion county: 1 man of 70 years
– Washington County: 1 woman from the ’90s
– Whiteside County: 1 man of 60 years, 1 man of 90 years
– Will county: 1 man of 50 years, 1 man of 60 years, 3 men of 70 years, 1 woman of 80 years, 2 women of 90 years
– Winnebago County: 1 woman from the 90s

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