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Nearly 1.9 million fully vaccinated in April, 672 more COVID-19 deaths

April has been pivotal for Illinois' fight against COVID-19, accounting for almost half of those now considered to be fully vaccinated.

Nearly 1.9 million Illinois residents and workers became fully vaccinated against COVID-19 in April, compared to 4 million since the vaccines first became available in December, Illinois Department of Public Health figures show.

A person is considered fully vaccinated two weeks after receiving a final dose of vaccine.

Still, 672 residents died from the respiratory disease in April, IDPH data released Friday shows. That's 16% fewer than the previous month and the lowest monthly total since September 2020.

The state also reported that new cases of the disease were up 32,500 in April compared to March. Public health officials note the uptick was not unexpected, considering there were fewer restrictions on travel and gatherings in April.

On Thursday, vaccine providers administered 103,717 more doses, bringing the state's total doses to 9,259,706.

IDPH officials also reported a one-day tally of 33 more deaths from the virus and 3,207 new cases.

Since the outset of the pandemic, 21,960 Illinois residents have died while 1,335,055 have been infected.

Hospitals throughout the state are treating 2,024 COVID-19 patients, with 475 of them in intensive care beds, IDPH records show.

IDPH officials also reported the state's seven-day average case positivity rate is now at 3.4%.

Case positivity allows health officials to see the level of infection throughout a certain population by showing the percentage of new cases developed from a batch of tests. A seven-day average is used to account for any anomalies in the daily reporting of those figures.

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