Cook County Health announced it will open up about 22,000 first-dose coronavirus vaccination slots at 4 p.m. Thursday across four suburban sites, according to a news release.
Meanwhile, Chicago public health Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady warned Thursday that the statewide uptick in COVID-19 cases could cause a significant increase in illness, hospitalizations and deaths. Steta officials reported 3,526 new confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 in Illinois Thursday, the highest count since 3,660 cases were recorded Feb. 5.
A day earlier, Mayor Lori Lightfoot she’s concerned about the “quantum leap” in coronavirus numbers and won’t call for any more significant reopening plans until those numbers subside. Chicago’s daily COVID-19 cases rose to nearly 500 a day this week.
In a somber milestone, the Cook County medical examiner’s office also announced that the county has surpassed 10,000 confirmed deaths from COVID-19-related causes since the first such local death just over a year ago.
Illinois COVID-19 vaccine tracker: Here’s where the state stands
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Here’s what’s happening Thursday with COVID-19 in the Chicago area:
7:10 p.m.: With fans back inside Wrigley Field, Chicago felt normal again for a few brief hours
The temperatures hovered just above freezing on opening day. Fans booed the mayor. And the Wrigleyville bars provided comfort to the faithful after a Cubs loss.
For a few brief hours Thursday afternoon, Chicago felt normal again.
The Cubs home opener marked one of the city’s first mass events since the pandemic began, requiring fans and Wrigley Field employees to adhere to myriad protocols that would have seemed completely alien and wholly unnecessary just 13 months ago: Ticket entries were timed, everyone had to wear a mask, and attendance was limited to just 25% of the park’s 41,000-seat capacity.
“It won’t be the same, but I think everybody is so excited,” Steve Grolmus, a season ticket holder from the Quad Cities, said before the game. “The excitement level is going to way up there for everybody.”
Read more here. —Clare Proctor, Colleen Kane, Chris Jones, Adam Lukach, Stacy St. Clair and Paul Sullivan
6:40 p.m.: CDPH, CTA partner for new COVID-19 vaccination bus program
Chicago residents in ZIP codes struggling with COVID-19 vaccination rates are invited to hop on board a Chicago Transit Authority bus to get their shot.
The city’s new “Protect Chicago” vaccination bus kicked off Wednesday outside Atlas Senior Center, 1767 E. 79th St., and inoculated 98 people, according to a city news release.
Seniors living in communities with low vaccination rates are prioritized, and family members, neighbors or friends who helped them register can also get a shot, the release said.
Future events are in the works, and eligible individuals will get a registration link and code once available. Appointments are recommended, but not required, unlike at other city vaccination sites.
—Alice Yin
4:45 p.m.: 13-year-old helping Illinoisans find vaccination appointments with his website
Talking to Eli Coustan about his website ILVaccine.org makes you wonder what you were doing at age 13.
Eli found out about the difficulty people were having booking COVID-19 vaccination appointments after he helped his grandparents. Putting his programming skills to work, his website aims to make the process easier.
Launched in February, the site lists information about locations across Illinois that are offering COVID-19 vaccinations, including availability and eligibility information. As of Wednesday, Eli said the site had reached 14,600 unique visitors.
“It needs to be easy for people to get appointments. If you’re an essential worker, especially a front-line essential worker, you don’t have the time to be in all the Facebook groups monitoring everything,” he said. “You have time to check a few things every day, maybe. At the very beginning, I saw how hard it was firsthand. … When they release (appointments), nobody knows. And if you’re not at the right place at the right time, you’re not going to get it. So that’s why I created it.”
Eli’s site has been referenced by many since its inception, including Illinois Senate Republican leader Dan McConchie, U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky and the American Medical Association’s daily COVID-19 briefing in recent days.
Read more here. —Darcel Rockett
3:40 p.m.: Illinois records 3,526 new COVID-19 cases, highest since Feb. 5, as officials warn residents to be safe over holiday weekend
Chicago public health Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady warned Thursday that the statewide uptick in COVID-19 cases could cause a significant increase in illness, hospitalizations and deaths.
Public health officials reported 3,526 new confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 in Illinois Thursday, the highest count since 3,660 cases were recorded Feb. 5.
The seven-day statewide positivity rate for cases as a share of total tests is 3.5% as of Wednesday, the highest level since the same rate was recorded for the week ending Feb. 2.
Arwady said the growth in cases in Chicago is being driven primarily by young people. She said that as the numbers have increased here officials have been watching what’s happening in Michigan. Over the past 14 days, that state has experienced a 56% increase in deaths and a 125% increase in hospitalizations. By comparison, the 14-day change in Illinois is a 9% decrease in deaths and a 21% increase in hospitalizations.
“We’re looking at Michigan with real concern,” Arwady said.
Going into what will be a holiday weekend for many residents, Arwady advised people to remain cautious.
“You don’t want your Easter celebration to turn into a contact tracing event,” she said.
Read more here. —Jenny Whidden
1:58 p.m.: Cook County releasing 22,000 first-dose appointments across four suburban sites
Cook County Health announced it will open up about 22,000 first-dose coronavirus vaccination slots at 4 p.m. Thursday across four suburban sites, according to a news release.
The locations are Triton College, South Suburban College, Des Plaines Community Vaccination Center and Forest Park Community Vaccination Center.
Anyone who is in Phase 1a, 1b or 1c can sign up at vaccine.cookcountyil.gov or by calling 833-308-1988 between 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday.
The release of appointments covers Friday, Saturday and Monday, according to a news release. All vaccinations are by appointment only.
—Alice Yin
12:12 p.m.: 3,526 new confirmed and probable COVID-19 cases and 25 additional deaths reported
Illinois health officials on Thursday announced 3,526 new confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 and 25 additional fatalities, bringing the total number of known infections in Illinois to 1,248,111 and the statewide death toll to 21,326 since the start of the pandemic.
Officials also reported 96,177 new tests in the last 24 hours. The statewide positivity rate for cases is 3.5%.
The 7-day daily average of administered vaccine doses is 109,073, with 116,551 doses given on Wednesday. Officials also say a total of 5,918,422 vaccines have now been administered.
—Chicago Tribune staff
11:04 a.m.: Over-the-counter home COVID-19 tests from Abbott, Quidel get FDA approval
U.S. health officials have authorized two more over-the-counter COVID-19 tests that can be used at home to get rapid results.
The move by the Food and Drug Administration is expected to vastly expand the availability of cheap home tests that many experts have advocated since the early days of the outbreak. The announcement late Wednesday comes as U.S. testing numbers continue to slide, even as the number of new coronavirus infections is rising again.
Read more here. —Associated Press
8:27 a.m.: Pfizer study shows COVID-19 vaccine still effective up to 6 months later
Pfizer says its vaccine continues to be effective against COVID-19 up to six months later.
Pfizer and its German partner, BioNTech, announced updated results Thursday from their ongoing late-stage study of more than 44,000 volunteers.
The companies said the vaccine was 91% effective against symptomatic disease and was even more protective in preventing severe disease. Of 927 confirmed COVID-19 cases detected through March 13, 77 were among people who received the vaccine and 850 were among people who got dummy shots.
Read more here. —Associated Press
6 a.m.: Chicago Cubs: What’s going on in and around Wrigley Field on first opening day in two years as the 2021 MLB season kicks off
The weather might not feel like it, but it really is opening day.
Opening day always is a special occasion, and the start of the 2021 baseball season is even more so with the return of fans — albeit at a reduced capacity — Thursday at Wrigley Field and next week at Guaranteed Rate Field.
The Chicago Cubs are welcoming back fans for the first time since 2019 because of the COVID-19 pandemic, which last season resulted in a shortened 60-game season with no spectators. (The White Sox start this season on the road Thursday against the Los Angeles Angels.)
Opening day will be one of Chicago’s first mass events in more than a year, so pay close attention to protocols and the various changes inside and outside the ballpark — including masks, tiered entry times, mobile tickets and cashless concessions.
Meanwhile, the city has cleared the way for the rooftops near Wrigley Field to host fans at 50% capacity or 50 people within one space.
So if you’re heading to Wrigleyday, dress appropriately: The temperature is expected to be in the mid-30s with a wind chill factor that could make it feel as if it’s below freezing.
Read more here. —Chicago Tribune staff
6 a.m.: Why are COVID-19 numbers heading up again? It could be that the public is following ‘recipe for a surge.’
Coronavirus cases in Chicago and Illinois are inching upward again, part of a nationwide pattern that is causing experts and officials to worry about another surge of the virus while cities and states race to vaccinate people as quickly as possible.
In Chicago, doctors see telling signs of a potential surge, including smaller outbreaks in some areas that they fear will coalesce into a bigger outbreak before most people are vaccinated. And Mayor Lori Lightfoot cited concern on Wednesday, pointing to a “quantum leap” in coronavirus numbers, and said Chicago won’t proceed with further reopening measures until numbers go down.
Still, as vaccines pick up, experts hope the inoculations will help lessen the uptick.
Chicago’s positivity rate as of Tuesday’s was 4.5%, an increase of over a percentage point compared with last week. The seven-day rolling average of cases went up to 498 in that same period, which was up 37% from the week prior.
Illinois public health officials announced 2,592 new cases on Wednesday, with a preliminary seven-day statewide positivity rate of 3.9%, up from 3.3% the week before.
Meanwhile, nearly 17% of Illinois residents are fully vaccinated, according to the state’s department of health.
“It’s the tortoise and the hare race,” said Dr. Emily Landon, an epidemiologist at the University of Chicago School of Medicine. “The vaccine is the tortoise, and we know it’s going to win eventually. But how far is the hare going to get?”
Read more here. —Madeline Buckley and Angie Leventis Lourgos
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