Can you start expanding your social circle after receiving your coronavirus vaccine?
Illinois medical experts weighed.
At the same time, the state is expected to extend the requirements for who is eligible for vaccinations in phase 1B of the state launch this week.
Here are the latest COVID titles from across the country:
Coronavirus in Illinois: 1,246 new cases, 34 additional deaths, nearly 60,000 vaccinations
Illinois health officials reported 1,246 new cases of coronavirus on Monday, along with an additional 34 deaths attributed to the virus.
According to the latest data from the Illinois Department of Public Health, Monday’s new cases bring the state to 1,175,655 cases of the virus since the pandemic began last year. A total of 20,303 deaths were reported as a result of the virus.
The seven-day positivity rate rose slightly on Monday, with 2.8% of all tests returning positive, according to IDPH. It rose from 2.7% the day before. The positivity rate in the tested persons remained at 3.1%.
Regarding vaccinations, the number continued to be affected by bad weather, which limited the administration of new doses in recent days. A total of 59,748 doses of the vaccine were administered Sunday in Illinois, with an average of seven days now running at 55,499 doses per day.
A total of 2,256,975 doses of vaccine were delivered to Illinois providers, along with 445,200 doses delivered to pharmacies as part of a federal program to inoculate staff and residents in long-term care facilities. Of those 2.7 million doses, 2,211,700 vaccines had been administered in Illinois since midnight, including 282,820 for long-term care units.
Phase 1B Vaccine eligibility is set to expand this week
Illinois will expand the list of people eligible for COVID-19 vaccinations in Phase 1B of its launch, Gov. JB Pritzker announced Wednesday.
The state expects to increase eligibility from February 25, allowing vaccination of people with “a high-risk medical condition” or comorbidity. The list includes people with cancer, diabetes, obesity, pregnant women and those with other conditions.
Here is a list of what qualifies as a high-risk medical condition.
Chicago and Cook County do not expect to join the state in expanding eligibility.
For a full look at where you can make an appointment in Illinois or where you can get information about vaccines for your area, click here.
Several employees return to public schools in Chicago on Monday
Teachers and additional staff are set to return to the classrooms, while the district is preparing to receive more students back in the coming weeks.
According to the CPS program, kindergarten through 5th grade teachers were scheduled to attend school on Monday, one week before their students return for personal learning.
The move was part of an agreement between the district and the Chicago Teachers Union, after weeks of negotiations over a return to classroom instruction and teacher vaccination.
The top Illinois doctor says the vaccine will be widely available Monday
The top Illinois physician promised the wide availability of the COVID-19 vaccine to state residents, but said it would take months for the supply to meet demand.
The comments of the director of the Illinois Department of Public Health, Dr. Ngozi Ezike, commented in an opinion piece in the Chicago Tribune, amid complaints about shortcomings and difficulties in obtaining appointments. The recent outbreak of winter weather has also delayed transport, leading to canceled reservations.
“It will be months before our offer comfortably exceeds demand – an obstacle we have always been waiting for and why we have spent so much time thinking about the priority-setting phases,” Ezike wrote. “Everyone deserves their turn to get the vaccine, and it’s my promise to Illinois that we’ll get there – as efficiently, quickly and fairly as we can.”
COVID-19 positivity rate lowest since pandemic begins, says Chicago’s Top Doc
The positivity rate of the coronavirus in Chicago is the lowest since the pandemic started, the city’s top doctor announced on Friday.
“I am also pleased to announce today that we are at a positive rate of 3.5% in the city of Chicago,” said Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady, Commissioner of the Chicago Department of Public Health. “This is the lowest positivity the city of Chicago has seen since COVID since COVID came to Chicago.”
Arwady noted that during the summer, Chicago’s positivity rate fell below 4%, but never to the level the city has been recording since Friday.
Chicago has an average of 323 new cases of COVID-19 a day, said Arwady, which is down from more than 3,000 cases a day at the peak of the virus. The city’s daily number of cases is also below the mark of a “high-risk area,” according to Chicago guidelines.
Can you socialize after you are completely vaccinated? The answer of the experts
After receiving your coronavirus vaccine, when is it safe to expand your social circles or see your loved ones?
According to experts in NBC 5’s “Vaccinated State” panel, the answer is a bit complicated.
“One thing we don’t know about the vaccine is whether or not people will continue to eliminate the virus if they become infected,” said Dr. Richard Novak, head of the UI’s Infectious Diseases Division. “The vaccine is very effective in preventing people from getting sick, but that doesn’t mean they haven’t become infected. We don’t know you know that yet. And if they get the infection, we don’t know how much virus they eliminate coming out of their body is reduced. “
According to Novak, the length of the vaccine’s immunity remains unclear.
“What we do know is that, in fact, immunity lasts for at least the three months we had in the study, and in fact, if you look at the levels of antibodies produced by vaccines, first of all, it’s higher than an infection. natural ”. Said Novak. “And the antibodies that the vaccine induces are stronger than the natural infection, and the declining antibody trajectory is quite slow, so it’s expected that the level of antibodies will continue for at least a year or more, but we don’t have to. you know that until we complete the studies that are still ongoing. “
Similarly, grandparents asked when they could see young grandchildren after receiving the vaccination, noting that children were reported to be less susceptible to severe infections caused by the virus.
“We don’t want to risk transferring the virus quietly, silently, unintentionally to the baby,” said Dr. Ngozi Ezike, director of the Illinois Department of Public Health. “The baby could pass on to the parents and other people in the house. Therefore, we must be careful when mixing households. ”
What if both people were completely vaccinated?
Full vaccination is said to be two weeks after a person receives the second dose of vaccine.
“To be honest with you, I think it’s safe enough for two people to be completely vaccinated – that means two weeks after their second dose – people who are completely vaccinated to expand their circle of friends to include other people who are completely vaccinated, and in a moderate way, ”said Dr. Emily Landon, executive medical director of Infection Control and Prevention at the University of Chicago Medical Center. “I think it’s probably quite reasonable. But I think it’s very important that, for the most part, we continue to wear our masks.”
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