CHICAGO â 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 âunderserved communities and vulnerable populations,â 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 state has been struggling to vaccinate the roughly 3.2 million residents 65 and older and front-line essential workers who are already eligible under phase 1b of the vaccine distribution plan.