The covidSHIELD saliva testing system that was developed and deployed on campus by experts at the University of Illinois last summer will help ensure a more normal looking school year for younger kids, officials say.
Overall, that vaccination total averages out to about 48 shots given every minute since Illinois’ first dose was administered in mid-December.
But with vaccine demand slowing by about 37% compared to a month ago, and herd immunity a ways off, Gov. J.B. Pritzker is urging residents to keep signing up for shots.
“This is real progress,” Pritzker tweeted. “I invite everyone who has gotten protected from the virus to talk to their friends and family who haven’t yet. It’s how we’ll all get back to our lives.”
COVID-19 vaccine doses administered by day
Graphic by Jesse Howe and Caroline Hurley | Sun-Times
Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times file
An ordeal that left many feeling like there was no end in sight might finally be coming to a close.
With coronavirus case numbers heading in the right direction, Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Thursday announced he’ll lift more COVID-19 business restrictions across Illinois next week and barring another surge of infections, he’ll let the state fully reopen June 11.
Fourteen months into the pandemic, it’s the clearest timeline Pritzker has set for most of the state to return to business as usual and one that puts him at odds yet again with Mayor Lori Lightfoot, who is sticking to a more conservative potential reopening date of July 4 for Chicago.
Tyler LaRiviere/Sun-Times file
More than 60% of Illinois adults have gotten at least one coronavirus vaccine dose so far, public health officials announced Wednesday.
The state crossed that threshold almost five months after the first shot was injected in mid-December. Almost 9.6 million doses have been doled out across Illinois since then, with 4.2 million people now fully vaccinated nearly a third of the population.
That puts the state well on pace to reach the 70% mark for at least partially vaccinated adults over the next two months, even though vaccine demand is declining, according to officials from the Illinois Department of Public Health.
Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times
Illinois’ average COVID-19 infection rate fell to its lowest level in over a month Tuesday as Gov. J.B. Pritzker and Mayor Lori Lightfoot teased a potential full reopening for the city and state this summer.
The Illinois Department of Public Health reported 2,211 new coronavirus cases diagnosed among the latest 57,483 tests to lower the average statewide positivity rate to 3.3%, suggesting the virus is spreading at its slowest pace since March 31.
Back then, the state was on the upswing of a month-long spike in cases that threw off Pritzker’s reopening plan, peaking with a 4.4% average positivity rate logged April 12.