State tops 2 million vaccine doses given

More than 2 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine have been administered in Illinois, state health officials reported Friday.

Of the 2,060,706 doses that have now gone into the arms of Illinois residents and workers, 1,015,724 were used to fully vaccinate individuals who have now received two shots. That means almost half the doses were used to fully vaccinate people.

Health officials reported 83,673 additional inoculations Friday, including 35,107 second doses.

Don Newsham, a 77-year-old Carol Stream resident, was one of those who received a first dose Thursday at the DuPage County Fairgrounds.

“I never thought a government service could be so efficient,” Newsham said. “I got there at 1 p.m., left at 1:30 and I'm all signed up for the next shot in three weeks.”

State officials on Friday reported receiving nearly 80,000 new doses of the vaccine. Despite vaccine shipment delays caused by extreme winter weather throughout the country over the past week, Illinois still received 246,350 doses over the past seven days, according to Illinois Department of Public Health records. That's almost equal to what Illinois received over the same seven-day span a week ago.

Of the more than 2.6 million vaccine doses the state has received, 78.3% have been administered to state's residents and workers. Figures from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention put Illinois at 37th among the 50 states in terms of use of its vaccine supply, but only four states have administered more vaccines than Illinois.

Federal officials provided an update on the status of vaccine shipments that have been delayed by the weather this week. Andy Slavitt, the senior adviser to the COVID-19 response coordinator at the White House, told reporters today that a triple punch caused by the weather has caused significant logistical problems, with workers unable to get to work to package vaccines, road closures throughout the country and power outages at more than 2,000 vaccination sites.

He remained optimistic about getting the country back on track, though.

“Whatever reduction we see in our seven-day average this week in vaccinations from the weather, if we all work together — from the factory, all the way to the vaccinators — we will make up for it in the coming week,” Slavitt said.

Among suburban Cook County and the five collar counties of DuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry and Will, 617,588 residents have had at least one dose of the vaccine, according to IDPH records.

• In suburban Cook County, 291,812 residents have received at least one dose of the vaccine, which amounts to 11.8% of the population.

• In DuPage County, 108,279 residents have received at least one dose of the vaccine, which amounts to 11.7% of the county's population.

• In Kane County, 51,631 residents have received at least dose of the vaccine, which amounts to 9.7% of the county's population.

• In Lake County, 71,425 residents have received at least dose of the vaccine, which amounts to 10.2% of the county's population.

• In McHenry County, 29,517 residents have received at least dose of the vaccine, which amounts to 9.6% of the county's population.

• In Will County, 64,924 residents have received at least dose of the vaccine, which amounts to 9.4% of the county's population.

IDPH officials also reported Friday that 63 more Illinois residents have died from the respiratory disease, bringing the state's death toll to 20,192 since the outbreak began.

IDPH figures also show 2,219 new cases were diagnosed. The state is reporting 1,170,902 Illinois residents have now been infected with the virus.

Hospitals statewide reported 1,596 COVID-19 inpatients are currently being treated. It's the first time since late September that there are fewer than 1,600 COVID-19 patients hospitalized. Of those hospitalized, 366 are in intensive care.

Meanwhile, the state's seven-day average case positivity rate is at 2.8%, up slightly from the day before, but part of a continuing decline from a high of 13.2% in mid-November.

Case positivity allows health officials to track the level of new infections among specific populations. A seven-day average is used to smooth out any anomalies in the daily reporting of new cases and test results.

• Daily Herald staff writer Marni Pyke contributed to this report.