IDPH, IEMA discontinue vaccination and staffing assistance program
The Illinois Department of Public Health and the Illinois Emergency Management Agency announced Friday they will discontinue their program to offer vaccination and staffing support to administer COVID-19 vaccines.
“Vaccines will continue to be readily available at locations across the state, including pharmacies, local health departments, doctor’s offices and other health centers,” they said in a statement.
About 81.2 percent of eligible Illinoisans ages 5 and older have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, while 72.5 percent are fully vaccinated.
Illinois vaccinators have administered 21,374,596 COVID-19 vaccines, including 4,280,519 booster doses. The seven-day average of doses administered is 8,386.
About 59.9 percent of total doses administered went to white Illinoisans, while 15.7 went to Latinx residents, 11.2 percent to Black residents and 7.2 to Asian residents. About 3.1 percent went to those identified as “other races” while 2.3 percent are “unknown.”
As of Thursday, 500 Illinoisans were in the hospital with COVID-19, up 39 from Wednesday and up 30 from the prior week.
Of the patients in the hospital, 73 were in intensive care units, up 15 from Wednesday and up nine from the prior week. There were 26 patients on ventilators, up four from Wednesday and down seven from the prior week.
IDPH reported 8,426 confirmed and probable COVID-19 cases last week, up 4.8 percent from the prior week. There were 87 new deaths reported last week, down 20.2 percent from the prior week.
The new cases bring the state total to 3,069,650, while the death toll increased to 33,394.
The seven-day average for new cases on Friday was 1,204, up 56 from the prior week. The seven-day average for daily deaths is 12, down four from the prior week.
The seven-day statewide positivity rate for cases as a percent of total tests and the seven-day statewide test positivity using the number of COVID-19 positive tests over total tests are both 1.7 percent.
