Chicago officials gave an update on the city’s coronavirus vaccine rollout. Meanwhile, medical experts have answered some of your most-asked vaccine questions in a panel with NBC 5.
Here are the latest COVID headlines from around the state:
Coronavirus in Illinois: 2,219 New Cases, 63 Deaths, 83K Vaccinations Reported Friday
Health officials in Illinois reported 2,219 new cases of coronavirus on Friday, along with 63 additional deaths and more than 83,000 doses of vaccine administered the day before, though severe weather has delayed the number of doses delivered to the state.
According to the Illinois Department of Public Health, Friday’s new confirmed and probable case numbers lifted the statewide total to 1,170,902 cases since the pandemic began.
The death toll now stands at 20,192, according to IDPH.
Over the last 24 hours, 85,963 tests have been administered to Illinois residents, bringing the state total to 17,474,319 since the pandemic began.
The rolling positivity rate on all tests conducted in the last seven days stands at 2.8%, health officials said. The positivity rate on individuals tested was at 3.3%.
As of Thursday night, 1,596 people were in Illinois hospitals with coronavirus. Of those, 366 patients were in the ICU and 190 patients were on ventilators.
A total of 83,673 doses of coronavirus vaccine were administered in Illinois over the last 24 hours, health officials said Thursday. That lifted the statewide total number of vaccinations to 2,060,706 doses given thus far, including 271,142 administered at long-term care facilities.
A total of 2,186,775 doses of vaccine have been delivered to providers in Illinois, including Chicago, state health officials said, plus 445,200 doses allocated to the federal government’s program for long-term care facilities.
IDPH noted that severe weather has delayed the number of doses delivered to Illinois.
“Weather continues to cause vaccine delivery delays from the federal government,” IDPH said in a statement. “We are in contact with the Center for Disease Control and Prevention and other federal agencies to understand the logistical challenges and if there is anything Illinois can do to expedite getting vaccine.”
The rolling seven-day daily average of vaccinations stands at 59,460 doses per day, according to IDPH.
Half of COVID Vaccine Doses Administered in Last Week Went to Black, Latinx Residents, Chicago Says
After early data painted a “disturbing” picture surrounding racial equity and the coronavirus vaccine in Chicago, the city says at least 50% of doses administered in the last week went to Black or Latinx residents.
The number nearly triples the statistics reported less than a month ago, when the city said just 18% of doses administered early on in the vaccine rollout were going to Black or Latinx Chicagoans, despite them making up 59% of the city’s population.
Still, according to city data since vaccinations began, Black and Latinx residents make up less than 40% of the city’s total first doses administered.
“Just over two months ago, we finally began to see the light at the end of a long, dark tunnel we’ve been in since COVID-19 first came to our city. This light came in the form of long awaited vaccines,” Lightfoot said during a news conference Friday. “And while it gave us a glimpse of what a post-COVID Chicago could look like, it also illuminated the significant challenges that we have struggled with throughout this pandemic.”
Similar trends were reported across the country.
An early look at 17 states and two cities that released racial breakdowns through Jan. 25 found that Black people in all places were getting inoculated at levels below their share of the general population, in some cases significantly below.
That is true even though they constitute an oversize percentage of the nation’s health care workers, who were put at the front of the line for shots when the campaign began in mid-December.
The gap…
Read More: Chicago Vaccine Update, Risks of Reinfection, Top Questions Answered – NBC