Illinois reports another 137,445 vaccines administered; 70% of seniors have received one dose, but state won’t advance to Bridge Phase yet

The Illinois Department of Public Health reported 2,592 new confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 and 28 additional deaths Wednesday, and a total of 5,801,871 COVID-19 vaccines have been administered.

The state reported 137,445 shots were administered on Tuesday.

The seven-day rolling average of Illinois’ positivity rate decreased from 3.4% to 3.3%. The state received the results of 77,727 COVID-19 tests in the 24 hours leading up to Wednesday afternoon.

Illinois has seen 1,244,585 total cases of the virus, and 21,301 people have died. The state has conducted a total of 20,313,050 tests since the start of the pandemic.

As of late Tuesday, Illinois had 1,413 COVID-19 patients in the hospital. Of those, 294 were in intensive care units, and 123 were on ventilators.

Vaccine update: As of Wednesday, IDPH reported a total of 7,307,365 doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been distributed statewide, with 5,801,871 vaccines administered.

As of the time this story was published, 2,161,302 of the population of Illinois have been fully vaccinated, or 16.96%. Illinois has a population of 12,741,080 people.

There can be as much as a 72-hour delay in reporting from healthcare providers on vaccines administered.

In northern Illinois, here is the percentage of the population fully vaccinated by county:

Chicago: 14.27%

Suburban Cook: 17.20%

Lake: 14.43%

McHenry: 14.11%

DuPage: 17.92%

Kane: 14.63%

Will: 14.37%

Kendall: 16.19%

La Salle: 14.60%

Grundy: 13.17%

DeKalb: 12.58%

Ogle: 14.57%

Lee: 13.97%

Whiteside: 14.57%

Bureau: 15.22%

Bridge update: According to Gov. JB Pritzker’s plan announced March 18, the state needs 70% of Illinois residents ages 65 and older to have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine before it can advance to the state’s “bridge plan” that will open up capacity limits on all businesses.

As of Wednesday, 70.06% of those 65 and older had received one dose of the vaccine, according to the state’s dashboard.

“While 70% of Illinois residents 65 years and older have received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine, not all of the metrics needed to advance to the Bridge Phase and on to Phase 5 of the Restore Illinois Plan have been met,” IDPH said in a statement on Wednesday. “The number of people being admitted to the hospital in Illinois due to COVID-19 continues to increase. As long as new hospital admissions continue to increase, the state will not advance. The number of cases of COVID-19 has seen an increasing trend as well.”

Also, according to the state’s dashboard, 36.85% of Illinois residents 16 and older have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.

Regional update: Currently, all 11 of the state’s health regions are in Phase 4 of the state’s reopening plan.

The North Suburban region (McHenry and Lake counties) has seen 67 consecutive days below 8% for its COVID-19 test positivity rate. The region’s positivity rate increased to 4.1%. Currently, 38% of ICU beds are available.

The region has never dropped below the 20% threshold for ICU bed availability since tracking began.

Within this region, McHenry County’s seven-day positivity rate average increased to 6.1%. Lake County, which does about two-thirds of the testing in the region, is reporting a rolling average of 3.5%.

Hospitalizations have decreased or remained stable for seven out of the past 10 days in this region.

The West Suburban region (DuPage and Kane counties) has seen a 70 consecutive days below 8%. The region’s positivity rate increased slightly to 5.4%. Currently, 32% of ICU beds are available.

Within this region, Kane County’s seven-day positivity average increased to 5.3% and DuPage County’s increased slightly to 5.4%.

Hospitalizations have decreased or remained stable for five out of the past 10 days in this region.

The South Suburban region (Will and Kankakee counties) has seen 72 consecutive days below 8%. The region’s positivity rate increased to 4.1%. Currently, 31% of ICU beds are available.

Hospitalizations have increased for eight out of the past 10 days in this region.

The North region (Boone, Carroll, DeKalb, Jo Daviess, Lee, Ogle, Stephenson, Whiteside and Winnebago counties) has maintained a positivity rate below 8% for 75 days. The region’s positivity rate increased to 4.2%. Currently, 25% of ICU beds are available.

Within this region, DeKalb County’s positivity rate increased to 3.9%, Lee County’s rate stayed flat at 1.4%, and Whiteside County’s increased to 7.0%.

Hospitalizations have increased 10 out of the past 10 days in this region.

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 76 days below 8%. The region’s positivity rate increased to 5.0%.

Currently, 22% of ICU beds are available. Hospitalizations have increased for nine out of the past 10 days.

Within this region, La Salle County’s seven-day positivity rate increased to 2.5%.

Chicago has seen 70 consecutive days below 8%. The region’s positivity rate increased to 4.5%.

Currently, 23% of ICU beds are available.

Suburban Cook County has seen 70 days below 8%. The region’s positivity rate increased to 4.9%.

Currently, 21% of ICU beds are available. Hospitalizations have increased 10 out of the past 10 days in this region.

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

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

Newly reported deaths include:

• Bureau County: 1 female 80s

• Cook County: 2 females 40s, 1 male 40s, 1 female 50s, 3 males 50s, 1 female 60s, 2 males 60s, 1 female 70s, 2 males 70s, 3 females 80s, 2 males 80s, 1 female 90s, 1 female 100+

• Franklin County: 1 female 90s

• Grundy County: 1 female 70s

• Lake County: 1 male 60s

• Livingston County: 1 female 80s

• Rock Island County: 1 female 80s

• Sangamon County: 1 female 80s

• Will County: 1 male 60s