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COVID-19 update: 27,737 more vaccine doses, but 258 new cases and 8 more deaths in Illinois

Illinois health officials said Wednesday they had given 27,737 more doses of COVID-19 vaccine over the previous 24 hours, but at the same time 258 new cases were confirmed and eight more people died.

Hospitals statewide are treating 492 COVID-19 patients, with 114 of them in intensive care, according to the Illinois Department of Public Health. It's the third straight day hospitals have seen an increase in the number of COVID-19 patients being treated.

The total number of vaccine shots given to people in Illinois is 12,288,242, with 46.9% of the state's population fully vaccinated, according to IDPH.

The number is stagnating, with vaccine providers averaging 31,164 inoculations a day over the past week, records show.

Federal health officials are warning about the highly transmissible Delta variant, which is believed to be responsible for increasing numbers of new cases in some states. Missouri has the highest rate of new COVID-19 infections in the country, according to a New York Times analysis.

Since the outset of the pandemic, COVID-19 has killed at least 23,173 Illinois residents and infected 1,389,892. The state's seven-day case positivity rate is at 0.6% for the sixth straight day.

Case positivity allows health officials to track infection levels within a certain population by calculating the percentage of tests result in new cases of the disease.

As vaccine doses become more abundant, mass vaccination sites are closing. Kane County will close the Elgin Vax Site at 1080 E. Chicago St. on Friday after administering 24,000 doses of vaccine since early April.

The United Center vaccination site closes Thursday.

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