The total number of cases in Illinois now stands at 1,120,528, with a total of 19,138 deaths, since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In the last 24 hours, laboratories have reported 111,057 specimens for a total of 15,844,619.
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The preliminary positivity of the seven-day state test from January 22 to 28 is 5.4%.
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The test positivity rate is a metric that the state began providing in late October. It is calculated using the total number of positive tests over the total number of tests. This is the metric that state health officials used to make mitigation decisions.
A total of 1,304,475 doses of vaccine were delivered to Illinois providers, including Chicago, with an additional 496,100 doses allocated to federal government partners for long-term care facilities, raising the total number. of deliveries in Illinois at 1,800,575.
Find out how many people can get a COVID-19 vaccine before you
A total of 58,357 doses were administered on Thursday, bringing the record number of vaccines administered to Illinois for the third day in a row. 53,628 doses were administered on Tuesday and 55,865 on Wednesday.
RELATED: Johnson & Johnson vaccine with 85% efficacy against severe COVID-19 disease
Johnson & Johnson’s long-awaited vaccine appears to protect against COVID-19 with a single shot, not as strong as some two-shot rivals, but it can still be useful for a world that needs more doses.
J&J said Friday that in the United States and seven other countries, the single vaccine was 66% effective overall in preventing moderate to severe disease and much more protective (85%) against the most severe symptoms.
Only 1.4% of the Illinois population has received both doses of a vaccine.
In Chicago, health officials said they only received about 35,000 doses of vaccine a week, allowing them to administer only 5,000 doses a day, for vaccines that need two doses.
“The federal government tells us that we do the first and second doses and that we make sure everyone takes them in the right amount of time,” Pritzker said.
Instead of vaccinating as many people as possible with the first dose, Governor Pritzker said the state keeps vaccines in reserve for the second dose.
Some second dose consultations are even harder to find for some than their initial vaccines.
“I don’t have any kids. I was on the phone for about nine hours, yes, and it’s impossible. It’s a mess. That’s more stressful,” Jocelyn Jones said.
Jones and her husband are over 65 and have underlying illnesses. He said the next appointments he could find through the Cook County portal were in March.
“It won’t do us any good if we don’t get the second one and it’s almost impossible to get it,” he said.
Cook County Health Officer Israel Rocha said he will look into the situation Jones described, adding more vaccines to the county and more staff added to locations that should allow for on-site appointments after receiving the first dose.
“We are expanding our smaller sites, adding more team members to accommodate this feature and hoping to have them available at all sites in the coming days,” Rocha said.
Jones said she was finally able to get appointments for her and her husband for her second dose of COVID vaccine in the three-week period, but failed to get them through Cook County.
State Republicans question Pritzker about the state’s backward efforts in the area. They note that Illinois ranks 47th in the global vaccine distribution.
In a letter to Pritzker, members of the Senate Republican Caucus said Illinois ranks 47th in the global vaccine distribution, with only 4.8% of Illinois residents receiving at least one shot as of Thursday.
“We ask that you provide a clear explanation to Illinois lawmakers and citizens as to why Illinois is among the worst states when it comes to administering vaccines to those who need it most,” the committee said in the letter. . that blaming former President Donald Trump or the federal government is unsatisfactory.
Teachers in the periphery receive vaccines
Like the Chicago Teachers Union insists educators should receive the COVID-19 vaccine before returning to the classroom, there are more suburban teachers receiving the shot.
More teachers and key workers will get their shot on the arm Friday in Deerfield.
District 109 is working with local company Walgreens to vaccinate Deerfield Public School staff. They will receive the first dose of the Pfizer vaccine twice on Friday; the second shot will be administered next month.
Earlier this week, DPS also approved a COVID-19 testing support agreement with the University of Illinois to conduct COVID-19 testing for students and staff. If passed, the testing program will test students and staff returning to school. More information on the deal will be revealed in the coming weeks.
IDPH reports that a total of 887,845 doses of vaccine have been administered, including 131,401 in long-term facilities. The rotating average of seven days of administered vaccines is 38,738.
The IDPH says vaccine distribution data are reported in real time and vaccine administrations are delayed by up to 72 hours.
Walgreens provides vaccinations at 92 sites across the state and appointments can be made on its website, while Jewel-Osco will begin vaccinating eligible residents on Tuesday, with appointments available on its website.
Pritzker said there are plans to launch accessible locations once the supply of vaccines increases. He also announced the creation of a new portal, coronavirus.illinois.gov, to provide the latest information on vaccines.
As of Thursday night, 2,735 patients in Illinois were reported to be in the hospital with COVID-19. Of these, 532 patients were in the ICU and 297 patients with COVID-19 with ventilators.
The deaths reported on Friday include:
– Bond County: 1 woman aged 70 years
– Champaign County: 1 man from the 60s
– County of Coles: 1 man of 60 years
– Cook County: 1 woman 40 years, 1 woman 50 years, 2 men 50 years, 1 woman 60 years, 3 men 60 years, 1 woman 70 years, 2 men 70 years, 1 woman 80 years, 3 men 80 years, 1 man 90 years old
– DeKalb County: 1 woman aged 60 years
– Douglas County: 1 woman aged 80 years
– DuPage County: 1 70-year-old woman, 1 90-year-old man
– Effingham County: 1 woman 90
– Fayette County: 1 man from the 90s
– Iroquois County: 1 woman 90
– Kane County: 1 woman aged 20, 1 man aged 60, 2 men aged 70, 1 man aged 80, 1 woman aged 90, 1 man aged 90
– Kendall County: 1 man of 40 years
– Lake County: 1 man aged 50, 1 woman aged 70, 1 woman aged 80, 1 woman aged 90
– LaSalle County: 1 man aged 60 years
– Logan County: 1 50-year-old man
– Madison County: 1 man aged 70, 1 man aged 90 years
– McHenry County: 2 women aged 70, 1 man aged 70, 1 man aged 80
– Peoria County: 1 woman 90
– Piatt County: 1 man from the 80s
– Pike County: 1 man of 60 years
– Randolph County: 1 man from the 80s
– Rock Island County: 1 woman aged 60, 1 woman aged 80
– Saline County: 1 man from the 70s
– Shelby County: 1 man from the 90s
– County of St. Clair: 2 men of 70 years, 1 man of 90 years
– Stephenson County: 1 70-year-old woman, 1 80-year-old woman
– Tazewell County: 1 man aged 60, 1 woman aged 80 years
– County of Vermilion: 1 male of 60 years
– Whiteside County: 1 man from the 70’s
– Will County: 1 woman aged 50, 1 woman aged 70, 1 man aged 70, 1 man aged 80
– Williamson County: 1 woman 90
– Winnebago County: 1 male from the 80’s, 1 female from the 90’s, 1 male from the 90’s
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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