Illinois public health officials on Sunday reported that 98,550 doses of the coronavirus vaccine were administered Saturday, a day after the state set a daily record with 134,239 doses. The seven-day rolling average for vaccine doses is 93,183 doses, a new record.
Officials also reported 1,068 new confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 and 14 additional fatalities, bringing the total number of known infections in Illinois to 1,198,335 and the statewide death toll to 20,763 since the start of the pandemic.
And in an effort to reach Black and Latino communities in Illinois that have been hard hit by COVID-19 but have lagged behind the rest of the state on vaccinations, Illinois on Friday launched a $10 million public awareness campaign to combat vaccine hesitancy.
Meanwhile, the state’s first case of the COVID-19 variant from Brazil has been identified in Chicago, city and state public health officials confirmed Friday.
The variant was identified in an individual who did not report traveling outside Illinois, according to the Chicago Department of Public Health. Nor did anyone in the individual’s household. A close contact of the individual also contracted COVID-19, but that person also did not report traveling outside the state, officials said.
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Here’s what’s happening this weekend with COVID-19 in the Chicago area and Illinois:
Sunday
Reliever Pedro Strop is sent away from Cubs camp after violating COVID-19 protocols
Chicago Cubs reliever Pedro Strop was sent away from camp after violating MLB’s COVID-19 protocols, sources said Sunday.
Strop reportedly was dining out with Cleveland Indians players Franmil Reyes and Jose Ramirez, who also have now been isolated away from their team.
Reyes told Indians management they were dining indoors, a violation of the COVID-19 guidelines established by MLB and the players’ union this spring. Strop was seen in an Instagram photo with the other two, according to Cubs.com. The post by Reyes has since been deleted.
A joint committee consisting of representatives of the players association and MLB will determine how long Strop will have to be away from camp. The length will be determined after COVID-19 testing, and an evaluation of his conduct, meaning whether Strop knowingly violated the protocols.
Read more here. —Paul Sullivan
98,550 COVID-19 vaccines doses, 1,068 new cases and 14 additional deaths reported
Illinois public health officials on Sunday reported 1,068 new confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 and 14 additional fatalities, bringing the total number of known infections in Illinois to 1,198,335 and the statewide death toll to 20,763 since the start of the pandemic.
There were 68,094 tests reported in the previous 24 hours and the seven-day statewide positivity rate as a percent of total test is 2.3%.
Illinois public health officials on Sunday reported that 98,550 doses of the coronavirus vaccine were administered Saturday, a day after the state set a daily record with 134,239 doses. The seven-day rolling average for vaccine doses is 93,183 doses, a new record.
—Chicago Tribune staff
Saturday
2,565 new confirmed and probable COVID-19 cases and 50 additional deaths reported
Illinois health officials on Saturday announced 2,565 new confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 and 50 additional fatalities, bringing the total number of known infections in Illinois to 1,197,267 and the statewide death toll to 20,750 since the start of the pandemic.
Officials also reported 79,248 new tests in the last 24 hours. The statewide positivity rate for cases is 2.4%.
The 7-day rolling daily average of administered vaccine doses is 90,428, with 134,239 doses given on Friday, a new daily record. Officials also say a total of 3,259,664 vaccines have now been administered.
—Chicago Tribune staff
COVID-19 vaccines given to hundreds of University of Illinois employees who weren’t yet eligible, including coaches and instructors
County health officials who oversee the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign say they misunderstood state guidelines for vaccinating higher education employees and erroneously allowed hundreds of people who weren’t yet eligible — including coaches in the basketball program — to sign up for COVID-19 inoculations in early February.
The Champaign-Urbana Public Health District estimates that approximately 1,500 people received the COVID-19 vaccine out of turn between Feb. 1 and Feb. 4, according to Deputy Administrator and Epidemiologist Awais Vaid, who attributed the issue to “ambiguity” in the state vaccination guidelines.
At the time, however, only primary and high school educators were eligible under phase 1b of the state’s plan, which stresses equitable access, as supply remained scarce. In-person instructors at colleges in other counties were also denied vaccinations, despite lobbying from lawmakers and higher education leaders who understood the sector was excluded.
The state plan specifies that front-line essential workers in education — including those who work in congregate child care, preschool and kindergarten through eighth grade settings — are included in phase 1b but doesn’t specifically mention higher education employees.
Vaid on Friday said the vaccines were given out due to a “miscommunication” and that there was “ambiguity” over when higher education employees were slated for vaccination.
“In my personal opinion, higher ed should have been included under education. There is no difference between a high school teacher and a university teacher who is teaching in person,” Vaid said. “So why would we discriminate between that?”
Vaid stressed the error was short-lived and said his office has since tightened protocols. The in-person instructors, athletic coaches and university workers who received the vaccine in error were allowed to get the second dose, Vaid said.
Read more here. —Elyssa Cherney and Dan Petrella
With 1 million Illinoisans now fully vaccinated for COVID-19, here’s a look at what the data says about who those people are
On Dec. 15 at Loretto Hospital in Chicago and at OSF HealthCare St. Francis Medical Center in Peoria the first shots of the coronavirus vaccine were administered in Illinois.
Now 80 days later, more than 1 million people in Illinois have been fully vaccinated, in most cases meaning they have received two shots. More than 595,000 of those vaccinated are from Chicago and the suburban counties, nearly two-thirds of the state’s total.
So far in Illinois, more women than men have been fully vaccinated and more people ages 16 to 64 than those 65 and over. Despite the state’s efforts at equity in its vaccine rollout, 70% of the 1 million are white, 8% Black and 8% Hispanic. Of the state’s population overall, 61% are white, 14% Black and 17% Hispanic.
Here are a few ways to break down the 1 million total at this vaccination benchmark. —Jonathan Berlin
How does a mass vaccination site work? Here’s a look inside one at a former K-Mart in Des Plaines.
Illinois has 18 mass vaccination sites running across the state. To see how they work, the Tribune visited a new site set up inside a vacant K-Mart in Des Plaines .
The vaccination site, on Oakton Street, opened Thursday, along with a site at the convention center in Quincy that together can give shots to up to 4,000 people a day once at full capacity.
Illinois passed a notable benchmark in its vaccination effort Friday, with more than 1 million people fully vaccinated — 8% of the state’s overall population.
Residents at the Des Plaines site were administered the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
Take a look inside here. —Antonio Perez
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