December 29, 2024
Coronavirus

Gov. Pritzker gives update on when the COVID-19 vaccine will come to Illinois, how it will be distributed

IDPH reports 10,526 new confirmed cases, 148 additional deaths

The Illinois Department of Public Health reported 10,526 new confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 and 148 additional deaths Friday, the fourth consecutive day with more than 100 deaths announced.

This is the fourth time during the pandemic that Illinois has had a four-day streak of more than 100 COVID-19 deaths in a single day. Only one of those streaks made it to five days, back in early May.

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker and IDPH Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike also provided an update on the COVID-19 vaccine rollout plan at Friday afternoon's news conference.

As Shaw Media reported Thursday, the state expects to receive 109,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine from a federal supply, with 23,000 expected to go to Chicago and 86,000 set to go across the rest of the state.

The first vaccines are set to go to health care workers, hospital teams, first responders and long-term care residents. They will be restricted to those 18 and older.

Pritzker said Friday that the very first vaccinations will go to the 50 counties with the highest death rates per capita. There are 102 total counties in the state. In a list provided Friday afternoon, northern Illinois counties in the top 50 include: Carroll, Whiteside, Bureau, La Salle, suburban Cook, Rock Island, Lake, Winnebago, Kane, DuPage, Will, Ogle and Jo Daviess.

Both the Pfizer vaccine and the Moderna vaccine require two doses. Pfizer's is three weeks apart, while Moderna's is four weeks apart. The doses for the first and second shot are the same.

"No single person will be fully vaccinated even by Christmas, and it will likely be months before people with low-risk factors for COVID-19 get their first dose," Pritzker said.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is scheduled to consider approval of the vaccine for emergency use on Dec. 10.

The seven-day rolling average of Illinois’ positivity rate decreased to 10.3%. The state received the results of 112,634 COVID-19 tests in the 24 hours leading up to Friday afternoon.

Illinois has seen 759,562 cases of the virus, and 12,830 people have died. The state has conducted 10,806,364 tests since the start of the pandemic.

As of late Thursday, Illinois had 5,453 COVID-19 patients in the hospital, a decrease of 200 patients over the previous day, and the fifth consecutive day total hospitalizations have decreased. Of those hospitalizations, 1,153 were in intensive care units, and 703 were on ventilators.

Regional update: Currently, all 11 of the state's health regions are under additional mitigation measures from the IDPH, and as of Nov. 20, all 11 regions are under Tier 3 mitigations.

Regional data from the IDPH remains on a three-day lag.

The North Suburban region (McHenry and Lake counties) has seen zero consecutive days under 12%. The region's positivity rate increased slightly to 12.8%. Currently, 16.1% of medical/surgical beds are available and 23.8% of ICU beds.

The region has 11 consecutive days over the 20% threshold for ICU bed availability, and four consecutive days under the 20% threshold for medical/surgical bed availability.

The Lake/McHenry region has a rolling, seven-day average of 339 COVID-19 patients in the hospital, and that number has decreased for seven of the past 10 days.

Within this region, McHenry County's seven-day positivity rate average increased to 15.7%. Lake County, which does about two-thirds of the testing in the region, is reporting a rolling average of 11.9%.

Finally, within the Lake/McHenry region, there are 47 available, staffed ICU beds out of 188 total, an increase of four from Thursday.

The West Suburban region (DuPage and Kane counties) has seen zero consecutive days under 12%. The region's positivity rate increased to 13.2%. Currently, 13.8% of medical/surgical beds are available and 21.0% of ICU beds.

The region has eight consecutive days over the 20% threshold for ICU bed availability, and four consecutive days under the 20% threshold for medical/surgical bed availability.

The Kane/DuPage region has a rolling, seven-day average of 629 COVID-19 patients in the hospital. Hospitalizations have decreased for 10 consecutive days in this region.

Within this region, Kane County's seven-day positivity average is at 15.4%, and DuPage County is at 12.4%.

Finally, within the DuPage/Kane region, there are 75 available, staffed ICU beds out of 344 total, an increase of two from Thursday.

The South Suburban region (Will and Kankakee counties) has seen zero consecutive days under 12%. The region's positivity rate increased to 16.8%. Currently, 15.8% of medical/surgical beds are available and 20.2% of ICU beds.

The region has one day above the 20% threshold for ICU bed availability, and four consecutive days under the 20% threshold for medical/surgical bed availability.

The Will/Kankakee region has a rolling, seven-day average of 330 COVID-19 patients in the hospital. Hospitalizations have decreased nine out of the past 10 days in this region.

Finally, within the Will/Kankakee region, there are 36 available, staffed ICU beds out of 162 total, a decrease of seven from Thursday.

The North region (Boone, Carroll, DeKalb, Jo Daviess, Lee, Ogle, Stephenson, Whiteside and Winnebago counties) has seen zero consecutive days under the 12%. The region's positivity rate decreased to 15.3%. Currently, 24.1% of medical/surgical beds are available and 21.6% of ICU beds.

The region has 11 consecutive days above the 20% threshold for ICU bed availability, and 11 consecutive days above the 20% threshold for medical/surgical bed availability.

Region 1 has a rolling, seven-day average of 244 COVID-19 patients in the hospital. Hospitalizations have decreased 10 out of the past 10 days in this region.

Within this region, DeKalb County's positivity rate remained flat at 14.4%, Lee County's rate decreased to 17.8%, and Whiteside County's rate decreased to 13.3%.

Finally, within this region, there are 44 available, staffed ICU beds out of 179 total, an increase of six from Thursday.

The North-Central region (Bureau, Fulton, Grundy, Henderson, Henry, Kendall, Knox, La Salle, Livingston, Marshall, McDonough, McLean, Mercer, Peoria, Putnam, Rock Island, Stark, Tazewell, Warren and Woodford counties) has seen zero consecutive days under 12%. The region's positivity rate increased to 13.5%. Currently, 21.3% of medical/surgical beds are available and 14.1% of ICU beds.

The region has three consecutive days under the 20% threshold for ICU bed availability, and 11 consecutive days above the 20% threshold for medical/surgical bed availability.

Region 2 has a rolling, seven-day average of 473 COVID-19 patients in the hospital. Hospitalizations have decreased eight out of the past 10 days in this region.

Within this region, La Salle County's seven-day positivity rate increased to 13.1%.

Finally, within this region, there are 37 available, staffed ICU beds out of 255, an increase of three since Thursday.

Chicago has seen zero days under 12%. The region's positivity rate increased to 12.3%. Currently, 18.2% of medical/surgical beds are available and 20.0% of ICU beds.

The region has 11 consecutive days above the 20% threshold for ICU bed availability, and one day under the 20% threshold for medical/surgical bed availability.

Chicago has a rolling, seven-day average of 1,244 COVID-19 patients in the hospital. Hospitalizations have decreased six out of the past 10 days in this region.

Suburban Cook County has seen zero consecutive days under 12%. The region's positivity rate decreased to 12.9%. Currently, 18.4% of medical/surgical beds are available and 16.1% of ICU beds.

The region has three consecutive days under the 20% threshold for ICU bed availability, and two consecutive days below the 20% threshold for medical/surgical bed availability.

Suburban Cook County has a rolling, seven-day average of 1,537 COVID-19 patients in the hospital. Hospitalizations have decreased eight out of the past 10 days in this region.

To see how other regions across the state are doing, see the full IDPH dashboard here.

Newly reported deaths include:

- Adams County: 1 male 90s

- Boone County: 1 female 70s, 1 male 70s, 1 male 90s

- Champaign County: 1 female 80s, 1 male 80s, 1 male 90s

'- Christian County: 1 male 90s

- Coles County: 1 male 80s

- Cook County: 2 females 40s, 3 females 60s, 4 males 60s, 3 females 70s, 5 males 70s, 4 females 80s, 5 females 90s

- Crawford County: 1 female 70s, 1 female 90s

- Douglas County: 1 female 70s

- DuPage County: 1 male 30s, 3 females 60s, 1 male 60s, 1 female 70s, 1 male 70s, 2 females 80s, 1 male 90s, 1 female 100+

- Edwards County: 1 female 90s

- Effingham County: 1 female 70s, 1 female 80s

- Fayette County: 1 male 70s

- Ford County: 1 male 80s

- Franklin County: 1 female 70s, 1 male 90s

- Fulton County: 1 male 80s

- Greene County: 2 females 80s

- Grundy County: 1 male 70s

- Iroquois County: 1 female 70s

- Johnson County: 1 female 60s

- Kane County: 1 female 60s, 1 male 60s, 1 female 70s, 1 male 80s

- Kankakee County: 1 male 40s, 1 female 70s, 1 female 80s

- Kendall County: 1 male 70s

- Knox County: 1 male 90s

- Lake County: 1 male 60s, 1 male 70s, 4 males 80s

- La Salle County: 2 males 70s, 2 females 90s, 1 male 90s

- Logan County: 1 male 60s, 1 male 70s

- Macon County: 1 female 60s, 1 male 60s, 1 female 70s, 1 female 80s

- Macoupin County: 1 male 80s, 1 female 100+

- Madison County: 1 female 70s

- Mason County: 1 female 80s, 1 female 90s

- Massac County: 1 female 80s, 1 female 90s

- McHenry County: 1 female 50s, 1 female 90s, 1 male 90s

- Ogle County: 1 female 80s

- Peoria County: 1 male 70s, 1 male 80s, 1 female 100+

- Perry County: 1 male 80s, 1 male 90s

- Randolph County: 2 females 90s

- Rock Island County: 1 male 50s, 1 male 60s, 1 female 70s, 1 female 80s, 1 male 80s, 1 female 90s

- Sangamon County: 1 male 70s, 1 female 70s, 1 female 100+

- Shelby County: 1 male 80s

- St. Clair County: 2 males 70s, 1 female 80s, 1 male 80s, 1 male 90s

- Stephenson County: 1 male 70s, 1 male 80s

- Tazewell County: 1 female 70s, 1 female 80s, 1 female 90s

- Vermilion County: 1 female 90s

- Warren County: 1 male 80s\

- Washington County: 1 male 70s

- Wayne County: 1 female 60s, 1 female 80s

- Whiteside County: 1 male 50s, 1 female 90s

- Will County: 1 male 40s, 3 males 60s, 1 female 70s, 3 males 70s

- Winnebago County: 2 females 70s, 3 males 70s, 1 female 80s, 1 male 80s

John Sahly

John Sahly

John Sahly is the digital editor for the Shaw Media Local News Network. He has been with Shaw Media since 2008, previously serving as the Northwest Herald's digital editor, and the Daily Chronicle sports editor and sports reporter.