Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Wednesday announced the state’s plan for the next phase of its coronavirus vaccine rollout.
At the same time, he said the state’s 11 regions can begin lifting Tier 3 restrictions as early as next week if they’ve met the right metrics.
Pritzker Announces When Regions Can Begin to Lift Tier 3 Restrictions
Illinois’ 11 regions can begin lifting Tier 3 restrictions as early as next week if they’ve met the right metrics, Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced Wednesday.
“I’m cautiously optimistic as there are some early signs indicating that some regions have made real progress and won’t reverse that progress this week or next,” Pritzker continued.
“So on Jan. 15, exactly one incubation period from New Year’s Day, any region that has met the metrics for a reduction of mitigations will be able to move out of Tier Three of our mitigation plan,” he said.
All of Illinois have been under Tier 3 mitigations since Nov. 20, which have lowered capacity limitations for outdoor dining and other activities, suspended indoor dining entirely, shut down indoor recreation venues like theaters and casinos and increased other restrictions.
A region can move to Tier 2 mitigations if it sees a test positivity rate less than 12% for three consecutive days and more than 20% of ICU and hospital beds are available, as well as declining COVID-19 hospitalizations in seven of the previous 10 days.
Pritzker Releases Guidelines for Phase 1B of Coronavirus Vaccinations
Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Wednesday announced the state’s plan for the next phase of its coronavirus vaccine rollout.
Phase 1B will center on residents age 65 years and older and “frontline essential workers,” including first responders, education workers like teachers and support staff, childcare workers, grocery store employees, postal service workers, and more.
The age requirement in Illinois is 10 years lower than the recommendations from the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, “in order to reduce COVID-19 mortality and limit community spread in Black and Brown communities,” the governor said.
The next phase will be “when Phase 1A is substantially complete,” Pritzker said.
Phase 1B will include roughly 3.2 million Illinois residents, according to the state.
Here’s Who Can Get Vaccinated in Phase 1B of Illinois’ Plan
More than 3 million Illinois residents are expected to be included in Phase 1B of the state’s coronavirus vaccine rollout.
Here’s a look at who will be included in Phase 1B:
- Residents age 65 and over
- Frontline essential workers, which means “residents who carry a higher risk of COVID-19 exposure because of their work duties, often because they are unable to work from home, and/or they must work closely to others without being able to socially distance. This includes:
- First responders: Fire, law enforcement, 911 workers, security personnel, school officers
- Education: Teachers, principals, student support, student aids, day care worker
- Food and agriculture: Processing, plants, veterinary health, livestock services, animal care
- Manufacturing: Industrial production of good for distribution to retail, wholesale or other manufactures
- Corrections workers and inmates: Jail officers, juvenile facility staff, workers providing in-person support, inmates
- USPS workers
- Public transit workers: Flight crew, bus drivers, train conductors, taxi drivers, para-transit drivers, in-person support, ride sharing services
- Grocery store workers: Baggers, cashiers, stockers, pickup, customer service
- Shelters and day care staff: Homeless shelter, women’s shelter, adult day/drop-in program, sheltered workshop, psycho-social rehab
Illinois Administers Over 200K Coronavirus Vaccine Doses Outside Chicago
Illinois health officials have administered over 200,000 total coronavirus vaccine doses statewide outside of Chicago as of Wednesday.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker said health officials have administered approximately 207,106 COVID-19 vaccine doses, including Tuesday’s first round of second doses for the initial recipients.
“So far approximately one-third of our healthcare workforce outside of Chicago has received the vaccine. IDPH continues to work with local health officials to ensure the rapid administration of these vaccines to all members of Phase 1A who consent,” Pritzker said.
About 344,525 total doses of the Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines have been delivered to Illinois outside of Chicago, according to Pritzker.
He added that 114,075 vaccine doses in Illinois have been set aside for the federal government’s long term care facility vaccination program statewide with the exception of Chicago.
“[The] first phase includes health care workers and nursing homes and long-term care facility residents and staff, which we now approximate as 850,000 eligible Illinoisans,” Pritzker said.
Illinois Reports 7,569 New Coronavirus Cases, 139 Additional Deaths Wednesday
Illinois health officials reported 7,569 new cases of coronavirus on Wednesday, along with 139 additional deaths attributed to the virus.
According to the latest figures available from the Illinois Department of Public Health, the new cases bring the statewide total to 999,288 confirmed cases since the pandemic began last year.
The 139 deaths reported Wednesday lifted the state’s death toll to 17,096, officials said.
In all, 80,974 tests have been returned to state laboratories in the last 24 hours, a marked increase from the day before. The latest testing numbers brought the state total to 13,698,428 tests conducted throughout the pandemic.
The rolling seven-day statewide positivity rate for cases as a percent of tests decreased to 8.4% as of Wednesday, according to IDPH. The positivity rate of all tests was 9.9%, an increase from the day before.
According to IDPH data, 3,928 patients were hospitalized due to coronavirus as of Tuesday night, a slight increase from the previous day. Of those patients, 812 were in intensive care units, while 451 patients were on ventilators.
New COVID Strain Likely Already in Chicago, May Have Sparked 2nd Surge: Health Official
A new, more contagious variant of the coronavirus currently sparking lockdowns as it quickly spreads across the U.K. and through multiple U.S. states is likely already in Chicago and may have been behind the city’s recent second surge, according to a health expert with the Chicago Department of Public Health.
Dr. Marielle Fricchione, medical director at the Chicago Department of Public Health, said there are already several COVID-19 mutations and variants circulating in the city and health officials believe the newest strain causing problems in the U.K. is “likely circulating already.”
“Other states have found that it’s already circulating, it may have led to our second wave,” Fricchione said. “That’s purely speculation, but from what we learned from the first wave, and as we get more sequencing data from our local hospitals that have specimens, we’ll be able to report a little bit more on that. But the the general consensus from the CDC is that it’s likely already circulating here.”
Fricchione stressed that “layered mitigations” continue to be effective against the new strain and noted that data so far does not indicate the strain causes more severe illness.
“This isn’t atypical for viruses, respiratory viruses, in particular,” she said. “They mutate because they want to survive.”
Chicago COVID-19 Vaccine Map: See Where People Have Been Vaccinated by ZIP Code
Which parts of Chicago have seen the most vaccinations against the coronavirus? The city is sharing public data on COVID-19 vaccine doses administered each day, sorted by ZIP code.
The ZIP code that has seen the most vaccinations as of Monday is 60622 on the Near West Side, according to the city’s data, which says 1,815 first doses of the vaccine have been administered to residents of that area.
After that, 1,801 residents of the 60657 ZIP code on the North Side have received their first doses of the vaccine, while 1,708 residents of the 60611 ZIP code on the Near North Side have gotten their first shots.
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