Illinois COVID-19 update: With second boosters approved, vaccine doses tick up

With a second round of booster COVID-19 vaccines approved last week by the Food and Drug Administration, the number of vaccines being administered in Illinois is up to its highest level in more than a month according to new data from the Illinois Department of Public Health.

For Friday-Sunday, the state administered 55,060 shots. The state is now averaging 13,736 vaccines per day, the highest average since February 26. The state is reporting a total of 4,289,515 combined first and second booster vaccines have been administered.

The FDA’s decision opens a fourth dose of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines to those people at least four months after their previous booster.

During the U.S. omicron wave, two doses were nearly 80% effective against needing a ventilator or death – and a booster pushed that protection to 94%, the CDC recently reported. Vaccine effectiveness was lowest – 74% – in immune-compromised people, the vast majority of whom hadn’t gotten a third dose.

Until last week, the FDA had cleared fourth doses only for people 12 and older who have severely weakened immune systems. The agency said this especially fragile group also can get an additional booster, a fifth shot.

The IDPH reported 2,986 new confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 and six additional deaths for Friday, Saturday and Sunday combined. The IDPH does not update its data dashboard on the weekends.

The state received the results of 161,892 COVID-19 tests for Friday-Sunday. The state’s positivity rate is 1.9%

Illinois has seen 3,072,636 total cases of the virus, and 33,400 people have died. The state has conducted a total of 57,554,756 tests since the start of the pandemic.

As of late Sunday, Illinois had 481 COVID-19 patients in the hospital. Of those, 64 were in intensive care units, and 27 were on ventilators.

Vaccine update: As of Monday, the IDPH reported a total of 25,903,945 doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been distributed statewide, with 21,429,656 vaccines administered.

As of Monday, 8,205,425 of the population of Illinois have been fully vaccinated, or 64.40%. Illinois has a population of 12,741,080 people.

Among Illinois residents 5 and older:

Fully Vaccinated: 8,645,160 (72.5%)

At Least 1 Dose: 9,671,261 (81.1%)

Among Illinois residents 12 and older:

Fully Vaccinated: 8,236,658 (76%)

At Least 1 Dose: 9,206,224 (84.9%)

Among Illinois residents 18 and older:

Fully Vaccinated: 7,601,247 (77.1%)

At Least 1 Dose: 8,503,323 (86.3%)

Among Illinois residents 65 and older:

Fully Vaccinated: 1,793,803 (87.8%)

At Least 1 Dose: 1,967,314 (95%)

There can be as much as a 72-hour delay in reporting from health care providers on vaccines administered.

In northern Illinois, here is the percentage of the population fully vaccinated by county:

Chicago: 67.82%

Suburban Cook: 72.03%

Lake: 68.83%

McHenry: 64.97%

DuPage: 74.77%

Kane: 65.52%

Will: 65.90%

[ Will County’s COVID-19 transmission remains low, CDC says ]

Kendall: 68.13%

La Salle: 57.84%

Grundy: 57.07%

DeKalb: 56.09%

Ogle: 56.38%

Lee: 58.40%

Whiteside: 51.36%

Bureau: 56.06%

Regional update: All 11 regions in the state are in Phase 5.

Regional data from the IDPH remains on a three-day lag.

The North Suburban (McHenry and Lake counties) region’s positivity rate decreased to 2.7%. Currently, 30% of ICU beds are available.

Within this region, McHenry County’s seven-day positivity rate average increased to 3.2%. Lake County, which does about two-thirds of the testing in the region, is reporting a rolling average of 2.6%.

Hospitalizations have decreased or remained stable five out of the past 10 days in this region. The region is up to a total of 26 COVID-19 patients in the hospital.

The West Suburban (DuPage and Kane counties) region’s positivity rate increased to 3.3%. Currently, 35% of ICU beds are available.

Within this region, Kane County’s seven-day positivity rate increased to 2.9%, and DuPage County’s increased to 3.5%.

Hospitalizations decreased or remained stable five out of the past 10 days in this region. The region is up to 44 total COVID-19 patients in the hospital.

The South Suburban (Will and Kankakee counties) region’s positivity rate increased to 2.3%. Currently, 26% of ICU beds are available.

Hospitalizations decreased or remained stable six out of the past 10 days in this region. The region is down to 24 total COVID-19 patients in the hospital.

The North (Boone, Carroll, DeKalb, Jo Daviess, Lee, Ogle, Stephenson, Whiteside and Winnebago counties) region’s positivity rate increased to 1.5%.

Currently, 19% of ICU beds are available.

Within this region, DeKalb County’s positivity rate stayed flat at 2.0%, Lee County’s rate decreased to 0.4%, and Whiteside County’s went up to 0.8%.

Hospitalizations decreased or remained stable seven out of the past 10 days in this region. The region is up to 21 total COVID-19 hospitalizations.

The North-Central (Bureau, Fulton, Grundy, Henderson, Henry, Kendall, Knox, La Salle, Livingston, Marshall, McDonough, McLean, Mercer, Peoria, Putnam, Rock Island, Stark, Tazewell, Warren and Woodford counties) region’s positivity rate stayed flat at 1.7%.

Within this region, La Salle County’s seven-day positivity rate decreased to 0.9%. Currently, 26% of ICU beds are available. Hospitalizations decreased or remained stable for seven out of the past 10 days. The region is up to a total of 61 COVID-19 patients in the hospital.

Chicago’s positivity rate increased to 1.6%. Currently, 16% of ICU beds are available. Hospitalizations decreased or remained stable for nine out of the past 10 days.

Suburban Cook County’s positivity rate fell to 1.7%. Currently, 21% of ICU beds are available. Hospitalizations decreased or remained stable seven out of the past 10 days in this region.