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The expansion comes as the Illinois Department of Public Health reported on Wednesday, 2022 new confirmed and probable COVID-19 cases and 44 deaths.
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Several county health departments say it could be weeks before they are able to extend vaccine eligibility to people under 65 with underlying illnesses, despite assurances from state that supply will soon increase dramatically.
Governor JB Pritzker said federal deliveries to Illinois will increase to 100,000 daily doses by mid-March, nearly double what the state currently manages.
“I encourage all of our local health services, especially those that are not yet on the pace of expansion, to act as quickly as possible to expand our reach in light of the ever-growing federal supply,” said declared Pritzker.
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But in Lake County, less than a third of people 65 and older have been vaccinated.
The county is adhering to CDC guidelines that 60 to 70% of people in a current phase should be vaccinated before the expansion, unless supply exceeds demand.
“We are seeing high demand and I can tell you that every day I get emails from people 65 and over claiming their immunizations,” said Mark Pfister, executive director of the Lake County Health Dept.
In fact, on the eve of the state’s 1B expansion, not a county health department in the region has announced when this move will take place.
“I’m really looking to see what the situation looks like in the next four to six weeks, and then I make a decision on how and when to move on to the next group,” said Chris Hoff, of the DuPage County Health Department.
In Chicago, it could be the end of March.
“I don’t want to create expectations that we just can’t meet, especially when we still have to focus on our seniors,” said Mayor Lori Lightfoot.
Some providers, including pharmacies, in our area may expand eligibility, but they must receive the vaccine directly from the state or federal government, rather than those counties.
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The IDPH reports a total of 1,179,342 cases of COVID-19, including 20,374 deaths.
As of Tuesday evening, 1,511 patients from Illinois were in hospital with COVID-19. Of those, 338 patients were in intensive care and 172 patients with COVID-19 were on ventilators.
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In the past 24 hours, labs reported testing 82,976 samples for a total of 17,804,537 since the start of the pandemic.
The state-wide seven-day pre-test positivity from Feb. 17-23 is 2.8%.
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A total of 2,584,125 doses of vaccine were delivered to providers in Illinois, including Chicago, with an additional 445,200 doses allocated to federal partners for long-term care facilities, bringing the total administered in Illinois at 3,029,325.
The IDPH said vaccine distribution figures are being reported in real time and vaccine delivery figures are 72 hours behind.
The IDPH reports that a total of 2,310,929 doses of vaccine were administered, of which 291,273 were in long-term facilities. The seven-day moving average of vaccines administered is 58,141.
Deaths reported on Wednesday include:
-Cook County: 1 woman 60 years old, 3 men 60 years old, 4 women 70 years old, 3 men 70 years old, 2 women 80 years old, 1 man 80 years old, 1 woman 90 years old, 1 man 90 years old
-DuPage County: 1 60s man
-Ford County: 1 man from the 80s
-Henderson County: 1 60s man, 1 70s woman, 2 80s women, 1 80s man, 1 90s woman
-Johnson County: 1 male from the 1970s
-Kane County: 1 woman from the 1960s
-Kendall County: 1 woman from the 70s
-Lake County: 1 man from the 70s, 1 man from the 80s
-County of LaSalle: 2 women from the 90s
-County of Macoupin: 1 man from the 60s
-McHenry County: 2 men from the 80s
– Monroe County: 1 woman from the 70s
-Saline County: 1 woman from the 70s
-Stephenson County: 1 80s man, 1 90s woman
-Union County: 2 men from the 1960s
-Will County: 1 woman from the 1970s
-Winnebago County: 1 60s man, 1 80s man, 1 90s woman
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