How many fully vaccinated in Illinois have still gotten COVID-19, been hospitalized?
Illinois Department of Public Health officials reported Wednesday that 17 people in the state who were considered fully vaccinated against COVID-19 have since been hospitalized by the respiratory disease.
Additionally, of the more than 2.1 million people who have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 in Illinois, 399 have tested positive for the virus — or 0.0185% of those fully vaccinated, IDPH officials said.
IDPH considers someone fully immunized 14 days after their final vaccine dose.
“This information is constantly changing, but the following are the data that have been reported to IDPH so far,” IDPH officials wrote in an email Wednesday. “Seventeen (fully vaccinated) individuals have been hospitalized due to COVID-19; seven individuals have been hospitalized but investigations are pending as to whether they are related to COVID-19; and six have been hospitalized but not related to COVID-19.”
IDPH began reporting fully vaccinated individuals in the state on Dec. 19. During that time, the state health agency has reported 355,877 new COVID-19 cases diagnosed in the state, which means 0.1% of those cases were in individuals considered fully vaccinated.
Efficacy of the three vaccines approved for emergency use by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is between 66% and 95%, according to U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention records. Efficacy means someone vaccinated is that much less likely than someone unvaccinated to become infected.
In the case of the Pfizer/BioNtech two-dose vaccine, its efficacy is 95%, which means someone fully vaccinated is one-20th as likely as someone unvaccinated to contract COVID-19. Traditionally, flu vaccine efficacy each year is between 40% and 60%.
And studies have shown that those fully vaccinated for more than seven weeks have not been hospitalized or died from COVID-19, according to a report in LiveScience.com.
Latest state statistics
IDPH officials reported Wednesday that 51,213 more people had been fully vaccinated in the state, bringing the state's total of fully vaccinated residents and workers to 2,161,302 individuals.
State health officials also reported 137,445 more COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered throughout Illinois, which brings the total number of vaccine inoculations performed statewide to 5,801,871, according to IDPH figures. More than half of those inoculations — almost 3 million — occurred in March.
Vaccine providers are averaging 109,358 inoculations a day over the past week, the highest level this metric has reached since doses were introduced to the public in mid-December.
IDPH officials reported Wednesday that 28 more residents have died from COVID-19, while another 2,592 new cases were diagnosed.
The state's death toll from the respiratory disease is now 21,301, and 1,244,585 Illinoisans have been infected.
Hospitals statewide reported treating 1,413 patients for COVID-19 infections. Of those hospitalized, 294 are in intensive care.
The state's seven-day case positivity rate is now at 3.3%, down slightly from the previous day. Case positivity shows the percentage of tests that resulted in new cases of the disease. A seven-day average is used to smooth any anomalies in the daily reporting of new cases and tests.
Funding for schools
Gov. J.B. Pritzker also announced Wednesday, during a visit to South Elgin High School, that K-12 school districts would receive $7 billion in federal funding “to provide support, comfort and resources for our students” in the wake of COVID-19 interruptions.
Districts in suburban Cook County were set to receive more than $1 billion combined, with districts like Palatine Elementary District 15 and Schaumburg Elementary District 54 in line to receive more than $20 million each.
In DuPage County, districts were set to receive a combined $167 million in federal funds. Addison Elementary District 4, Marquardt Elementary District 15 and West Chicago Elementary District 33 were all expected to receive more than $9 million each.
School districts based in Kane County were in line for a combined $247.8 million, with more than $100 million going to Elgin Area Unit District 46 alone. U-46 is one of the largest districts in the state.
Lake County school districts have been earmarked a combined $209 million, according to the state report. Round Lake Area Unit District 116 would get more than $23 million, while Gurnee-based Woodland Elementary District 50 is set to receive almost $6 million.
McHenry County school districts would get a combined $53.3 million, while Will County school districts can expect a combined $175.7 million.
A full list of each school district's anticipated allocation is available at the website, illinois.gov/sites/P20.