Vaccinations continue to rise - but so do COVID-19 cases

With another 131,285 doses of COVID-19 vaccine reported given Saturday, more than 22% of Illinois' population is now fully vaccinated against the illness, state health authorities say.

The latest numbers reported Sunday come as state officials prepare to expand eligibility for the vaccine to anyone over the age of 16 beginning Monday.

According to the Illinois Department of Public Health, 7,178,611 vaccines have been administered in the state, and 2,853,730 residents are fully inoculated. Locally, DuPage County has the highest percentage of residents inoculated, at 24%, followed by suburban Cook at 22.7%, Lake at 19.8%, Kane at 19.3%, McHenry at 19% and Will at 18.7%.

The 131,285 shots given Saturday ended a string of three consecutive days of record vaccinations, but still exceeded the seven-day rolling average of 126,827 doses.

But despite the growing number of state residents vaccinated, a surge in new cases continues. The IDPH reported 2,942 new confirmed and probable cases Sunday, the 13th consecutive day the figure has topped 2,000.

Along with those new cases, the state reported 16 more deaths from the coronavirus. They included four residents of Cook County, two from McHenry County and one each from DuPage and Kane counties. In all, the disease has claimed 21,505 lives in Illinois, officials say.

As of Saturday night, 1,834 COVID-19 patients were hospitalized in Illinois, 409 of them in an intensive-care unit and 176 on ventilators.

The preliminary seven-day statewide positivity for cases as a percent of total tests remained at 4.2%, the same as the two previous days.