State eclipses 8 million mark for COVID-19 vaccination shots

More than 8 millions doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been given in Illinois, state health officials said Sunday, and 3,3 million state residents are now fully inoculated against the coronavirus.

The state eclipsed the 8 million mark Saturday, when another 115,330 shots were administered, according to the Illinois Department of Public Health. That's below the rolling seven-day average of 125,146 doses, but not unusual for a weekend.

According to IDPH data, 26.1% of state residents are fully vaccinated. That includes about 28.4% in DuPage County, 26.9% in suburban Cook County, 23.5% in Lake County, 22.9% in McHenry and Kane counties and 22.6% in Will County.

Also Sunday, health officials reported 2,666 new confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 in Illinois, along with 10 more deaths. Among the lives lost were five Cook County residents, and one each from DuPage and Will counties, according to the IDPH.

The daily case total ends a streak of five consecutive days with more than 3,000 new cases.

Hospitalizations also dipped slightly Saturday. As of Saturday night, 2,127 COVID-19 patients were in a hospital, down from 2,160 Friday night. Of those hospitalized Saturday, 510 were in an intensive-care unit and 209 were on ventilators, officials said.

The preliminary seven-day statewide positivity for cases as a percent of total test from April 11-17 is 4%, down from 4.4% seven days earlier.