Illinois reaches vaccine milestone as new case figures hit 10-month low

Half of all adults in Illinois are now fully vaccinated against the coronavirus, the Illinois Department of Public Health announced Sunday, citing data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

That growing number of vaccinated residents, combined with less testing over the holiday weekend, led to state health authorities reporting on Sunday the fewest new confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 in Illinois since early July.

The IDPH reported 602 new cases, the lowest since 587 were reported on July 7, 2020. The previous low since last summer was 782 on March 15, but that proved to be an anomaly, as more than 1,600 new cases were reported on each of the five days that followed.

State officials also reported 18 deaths more deaths from the coronavirus. They include eight in Cook County, two in both Kane and Will counties and one in DuPage County. In all, 22,794 people in Illinois have died from COVID-19, according to state data.

As of Saturday night, 1,078 coronavirus patients were receiving treatment in an Illinois hospital, down about 24% from a week ago. Of those, 298 were in an intensive care unit and 163 were on ventilators. state officials said.

The state reached the 50% vaccinated milestone after 39,222 more doses of vaccine were administered Saturday, officials said. The seven-day rolling average of vaccines administered daily is 52,177 doses and a total of 11,269,651 vaccines have been given, including at least one shot to two-thirds of the state's adults.

Incorporating those under the age of 18, about 41.3% of the state's population is now fully vaccinated. In the Chicago area, only DuPage County, at 48.9%, and suburban Cook County, at 44.2%, are ahead of the state average. Lake County is at 40.1%, McHenry at 39.9%, and Kane and Will at 39.5%, according to state data.