Illinois COVID deaths, cases rise slightly; 43,000 vaccine doses delivered
Deaths and COVID-19 infections rose slightly Thursday with 8,828 new cases and 181 more deaths from the respiratory disease, as the state finalized distribution of its first 86,000 vaccine doses.
A total of 43,000 Pfizer Inc. doses were delivered to the majority of counties in Illinois, with 22,925 doses going to hospitals in DuPage, Kane and Will counties Thursday, Gov. J.B. Pritzker said at a briefing.
Another 43,000 doses were sent directly from the federal government to health departments in suburban Cook, Lake, Madison and St. Clair counties.
As of Thursday morning, 3,500 health care workers had been inoculated, "with many more scheduled for today and throughout the weekend," Pritzker said.
The latest COVID-19 caseload surpassed the average of 7,907 over the last seven days. Deaths were also higher than the seven-day average of 140 people, according to Illinois Department of Public Health data.
Vaccine shipments reduced?
Meanwhile, logistics and manufacturing issues may have caused the federal government's Operation Warp Speed to reduce vaccine shipments to Illinois and other states next week, U.S. lawmakers said.
Pritzker announced Wednesday that federal officials notified him without a reason that the state's share of vaccines would be halved next week.
Sen. Dick Durbin said he received a briefing from Operation Warp Speed leaders Thursday "following inconsistent reports" about expected vaccine amounts.
"I will continue working with Illinois officials to hold Operation Warp Speed accountable and ensure our state can smoothly and equitably implement this public health campaign," Durbin stated. "As the federal government moves forward in making decisions on purchasing doses, distribution strategy, and timelines, it is imperative that we be as transparent as possible in order to maintain public confidence in the process."
U.S. Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, a Schaumburg Democrat who sits on the House Committee on Oversight and Reform, said lawmakers intended to review the discrepancies and formulate a plan to ensure Illinois "gets the doses we need to get past this pandemic."
Meanwhile, Democratic Rep. Brad Schneider of Deerfield, a member of the House Ways and Means Committee, said a request is out to Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar to explain how vaccine distribution will be expedited.
The White House has failed to prepare for vaccine rollout "whether it is standing up robust supply chains for PPE, taking up offers from Pfizer to buy more doses this summer, or building sufficient vaccine distribution capacities now," Schneider said.
Restrictions still in place
Pritzker also reaffirmed he doesn't intend to relax strict restrictions that have shut down restaurants except for carryout, closed theaters and casinos, and reduced capacity at shops, among other measures.
Overall, daily infections in December, which average 8,975, are less than November's tally of 10,278.
"Yes, the numbers are less," IDPH Director Ngozi Ezike said. But "we're still talking about 8,000 cases. If you have 8,000 cases, there's going to be a day - a few weeks from now - when corresponding to that you're going to have over 100 deaths."
Illinois hospitals were treating 4,751 patients with the virus as of Wednesday night, fewer than the seven-day average of 4,960 people.
The positivity rate for COVID-19 cases measured 8.4%, based on a seven-day average, compared to 9.5% a week ago. That number is calculated by dividing the number of new COVID-19 cases diagnosed by the total tests processed.
State labs processed 92,015 tests in the last 24 hours.
Since the pandemic began, 14,835 people have died of COVID-19 and the state has recorded 879,428 cases.