Nearly half of Illinois adults fully vaccinated, state reports

For the second time in a week — but just the third time all year — Illinois health authorities on Sunday reported fewer than 1,000 new cases of COVID-19 in the state.

At the same time, the Illinois Department of Public Health announced that 65% of Illinois adults have received at least one COVID-19 vaccine dose, and 48% of them are fully vaccinated, according to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The 943 new confirmed and probable cases of the coronavirus reported Sunday are the fewest since March 14, when 782 new cases were announced. There were 946 cases reported Monday, March 17.

The state also reported 24 additional deaths Sunday, including nine in Cook County, six in DuPage County and one in Kane County.

In all, the state has seen 1,375,508 cases and 22,623 deaths from COVID-19 since the outbreak began last year.

As of Saturday night, 1,417 COVID-19 patients in Illinois were hospitalized, with 343 of them in an intensive-care unit and 195 on ventilators.

On Saturday, 60,746 doses of the vaccine were reported administered statewide — below the rolling seven-day average of 75,546 doses — bringing the total to more than 10.9 million. Including those under 18 years of age, nearly 40% of the state's population is fully vaccinated, according to the IDPH.

In the suburbs, DuPage County now has 47% of its residents fully vaccinated, well above any other collar county. Kane, Lake, McHenry and Will counties all are at about 38%, according to the IDPH, while suburban Cook County has about 42% of its residents fully vaccinated.