About 190,000 of state's new COVID-19 booster shots already administered
Nearly 200,000 doses of the new COVID-19 vaccine booster targeting the highly contagious omicron subvariants have been administered throughout Illinois since becoming available less than two weeks ago.
Illinois Department of Public Health officials are reporting about 188,800 doses of the new booster shot were administered statewide. That's more than a quarter of the 730,000 initial doses shipped to Illinois providers earlier this month. More doses are being shipped as well, officials said.
After averaging fewer than 5,000 shots administered daily at the beginning of the month, Illinois vaccine providers now are performing an average of 27,025 shots a day, IDPH officials said.
"It is very encouraging to see Illinois residents turning out in such strong numbers to take advantage of the updated bivalent booster shots that are now available," IDPH Director Sameer Vohra said. "It's important for everyone who is eligible to get up to date on vaccines and boosters as soon as possible, before a potential fall and winter surge leads to increased infections."
More than 8 million Illinois residents 12 and older are eligible for the new bivalent booster shots that specifically target the current predominant strains of the virus known as "omicron BA.4 and BA.5."
According to U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention figures, 69.7% of the state's 12.8 million residents are fully vaccinated. Of those eligible for a second booster shot, 38% have received one.
IDPH officials are reporting that 1,153 COVID-19 patients are being treated in Illinois hospitals, the fewest since July 3. Of those hospitalized, 145 are in ICU beds.
COVID-19 hospitalizations are down 12.3% from a week ago, records show.
IDPH officials also are reporting 74 more deaths from the virus over the past week, as well as 17,584 new cases. That's 10 more deaths than a week ago, but new cases dropped 11.8% during that time.
Since the outset of the pandemic, Illinois has recorded 34,885 deaths from COVID-19 and 3,733,902 infections, IDPH records show.