COVID-19 cases shrink in May, but so do vaccinations
Daily caseloads of COVID-19 dropped by nearly 50% on average in May compared to April, Illinois Department of Public Health data indicated Tuesday.
The average daily number of new infections in May was 1,520.4 compared to 3,015.7 in April, a 49.6% decline.
However, the average number of daily COVID-19 vaccine shots also shrunk by about 44.7%. In April, the average number of daily vaccinations given was 114,334.6 contrasted with 63,242.7 a day in May.
The dip in shots comes for various reasons, including lack of access, concerns about side effects and the fact that millions who wanted to be vaccinated got inoculated this spring.
In addition, on April 13, the federal government briefly paused the use of Johnson & Johnson's popular one-dose vaccine to review concerns about side effects but resumed its use after 10 days.
However, "before the J & J pause ... we started seeing a drop-off even before that," said Dr. Ankur Singal, co-chair of Edward-Elmhurst Health's COVID-19 Incident Command.
"It's one of those things where there is still vaccine-hesitancy and there's people who just aren't ready to take that jump and get vaccinated."
However, now "we're seeing people who weren't particularly ready a month ago that are ready now. I think some feel more comfortable because they see other people getting it, people that they know," Singal explained.
The IDPH reported 401 new COVID-19 cases Tuesday, reflecting lows in the 400s not seen since March 2020 and June 2020. COVID-19 statistics typically lag after a long weekend because of reporting delays.
Eight more deaths from the respiratory disease were reported.
So far, about 67% of Illinois adults have received at least one COVID-19 vaccine shot and nearly 51% are fully vaccinated, officials said.
On Monday, 17,077 more COVID-19 shots were administered. The seven-day average is 45,545.
The federal government has delivered 13,695,055 doses of vaccine to Illinois since distribution began in mid-December, and 11,308,983 shots have been administered.
A total of 5,269,435 people - nearly 41.7% of Illinois' population - have been fully vaccinated. Vaccines manufactured by Pfizer and Moderna require two doses several weeks apart.
Illinois hospitals were treating 1,031 COVID-19 patients Monday night.
The state's seven-day average case positivity rate is 1.6%.
Total cases statewide stand at 1,382,587, and 22,835 Illinoisans have died since the pandemic began.
Labs processed 24,273 virus tests in the last 24 hours.