COVID-19 plays role in two more Sangamon County deaths, totaling 19 for September so far

Sangamon County officials on Tuesday reported two new deaths of county residents with COVID-19 — an unvaccinated man in his 80s and a vaccinated man in his 50s.

The fatalities brought to 19 the number of COVID-19-related deaths reported in September. It was the highest number in one month since January, when 43 deaths were reported.

The man in his 80s tested positive for COVID-19 on Aug. 18, and the man in his 50s tested positive on Sept. 18, according to Jeff Wilhite, spokesman for the Sangamon County Department of Public Health. Both men died Monday, Wilhite said.

County officials consider a person vaccinated in the statistics if he or she has received the recommended two-dose regimen for the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines and the one-dose regimen for the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

A person is considered unvaccinated in statistics if he or she has received either no COVID-19 shots or fewer than the recommended vaccine doses, Wilhite said.

More:Sangamon County reports 3 COVID-19 deaths in last 3 days, 2 people in their 30s among them

The first COVID-19 vaccine shots in the Springfield area began to be given in December and January to health care workers and people in high-risk categories. The categories gradually expanded until mid-April, when all Illinoisans 16 and older became eligible for shots. 

Children 12 and older became eligible for COVID-19 shots in mid-May.

Since January, 96 of the 103 COVID-19 deaths reported among Sangamon County residents, or 93%, involved unvaccinated people.

Seven of the COVID-19 patients from Sangamon County who died were vaccinated. The first COVID-19 death of a vaccinated person, a man in his 90s, occurred Aug. 11, and the man tested positive Aug. 5, when the delta variant was the dominant form of COVID-19.

Health officials said the variant has been spread mostly by unvaccinated individuals, contributing to the most recent surge of COVID-19 cases that began this summer.

Those infected and sick enough to be hospitalized were mostly unvaccinated, officials said, though some vaccinated people, especially those with weakened immune systems, became ill, and some died.

Forty-two new COVID-19 cases were reported among Sangamon County residents Tuesday, bringing the total positives during the pandemic to 24,514, including 267 deaths.

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Thirty-seven county residents with COVID-19 remained hospitalized.

In Menard County, one new positive case was reported, bringing the total number of COVID-19 cases to 1,580, including seven deaths. Seven Menard County residents with COVID-19 remained hospitalized.

Statewide, 3,002 new cases were reported Tuesday, and there were 23 additional COVID-19 deaths. There have been 24,661 confirmed COVID-19 deaths of Illinoisans and 2,638 probable COVID-19 deaths, according to the Illinois Department of Public Health.

As of Monday night, 2,039 patients with COVID-19 remained hospitalized statewide. 

Almost 55% of Illinoisans have been fully vaccinated. The percentage is almost identical for Sangamon County residents, and 48.6% of Menard County residents have been fully vaccinated, IDPH says.

Contact Dean Olsen: dolsen@gannett.com; (217) 836-1068; twitter.com/DeanOlsenSJR.