Federal disaster teams called in to help with COVID-19 vaccination effort in Illinois
CHICAGO — With the number of COVID-19 vaccinations administered in Illinois now surpassing 1.5 million, the state requested Federal Disaster Survivor Assistance teams to help in community outreach at vaccination sites in two counties including Cook beginning this week, the Pritzker administration announced Thursday.
The teams are part of the Federal Emergency Management Agency and will be focused on local health departments that serve “underserved communities and vulnerable populations,” state public health officials said.
Also Thursday, the state said the first case of the coronavirus variant that originated in South Africa has now been identified in a Illinois. The Illinois Department of Public Health said the variant was identified in a resident of Rock Island.
The variant, called a B.1.351 strain, was first seen in South Africa was first reported in the U.S. at the end of January.
Previously, 22 cases of the variant from the United Kingdom had been identified in the state, public health officials reported. Studies so far suggest current COVID-19 vaccines may offer some protection against the variants.
“We expected to see more cases of variants detected in Illinois, including the B.1.351 strain,” said IDPH Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike. “These variants seem to spread more rapidly, which can lead to more cases of COVID-19 and even another surge. Our best path to defeating this virus as quickly as possible remains wearing our masks and getting vaccinated when it’s our turn.”
The first of three Disaster Survivor Assistance teams, each comprising eight people, will be deployed to St. Clair County this week. The two remaining groups will be deployed to Cook County.
Last week, the Illinois National Guard was called in to assist at vaccination sites at the East Side Health District in St. Clair County and Triton College in Cook County.
“Local health departments are on the front lines of this initiative and it is critical that we provide them any and all support they need,” Gov. J.B. Pritzker said in a statement.
The state administered 69,029 vaccinations on Wednesday, bringing the state total to 1,549,108. The number of Illinois residents who have been fully vaccinated — receiving both of the required two shots — reached 346,773.
Over the past seven days, the state averaged 56,094 vaccines administered daily. One week ago, that number was 46,709.
“Something that everyone in Illinois should know is that things are moving in a very positive direction,” Pritzker said after touring a vaccination site in Elgin Thursday. “It does the heart good to see people getting vaccinated and to know that we’re seeing the light at the end of this terrible COVID tunnel.”
More than 340 retail pharmacy locations were added to the list of Illinois vaccination sites on Wednesday, bringing the total number of locations to more than 850, state officials reported.
“The new sites include 339 Walgreens stores throughout Illinois, which will be receiving vaccine out of a federal allocation and not from the state’s allotment. Additionally, four CVS locations are being added,” officials announced.
The state on Thursday reported 2,838 new confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 and 102 additional fatalities. The total number of known infections in Illinois is 1,155,833 and the statewide death toll is 19,841.
Officials said about 80 cases that were previously reported in McLean County have been removed from the statewide and McLean County totals due to false positives, and they are currently reviewing the situation.
Thursday’s new cases resulted from 96,525 tests. The seven-day statewide positivity rate for cases as a share of total tests was 3.3% as of Wednesday.
As of Wednesday night, 1,954 people in Illinois were hospitalized with COVID-19, with 448 patients in intensive care units and 227 patients on ventilators. The total number of hospitalizations fell below 2,000 for the first time since Oct. 14.
