Governor JB Pritzker gave an update on the COVID-19 vaccines that have had their first doses released to health care workers. The Governor says we are making progress but knows that there is still a long way to go. The program for long term care facilities is being coordinated by CVS and Walgreens and is being helped by the Federal Government. The state has received over 231,000 vaccines starting with nursing homes. There will be 172,500 outside of Chicago available. The latest vaccine numbers will be found on the IDPH website but Governor Pritzker says there may be delays in reporting.
Vaccine doses are reported immediately by the CDC so there is a mismatch between the two websites and Governor Pritzker says that is not just the case for Illinois. As far as mitigations are concerned, there is a concern about keeping everyone safe while waiting for enough vaccines.
Moving forward, the hope is that as data shows levels going down, regions can start to open up again. Governor Pritzker says he’s looking for three factors to reopen.
Director of Public Health Ngozi Ezike announced Monday evening that she would be getting the vaccination to show that it was safe and effective. Christian County reported 60 new cases of COVID-19 over a three day period (1/9-1/11) with a 7.7% positivity rate for the region.
