Region 5, southern Illinois, ended its week-long streak of zero available, staffed ICU beds; and 54.57% of Illinois residents are now fully vaccinated

Johnson & Johnson released data showing that a booster dose to its one-shot coronavirus vaccine provides a strong immune response months after people receive a first dose

For the first time in a month, Illinois is back under 2,000 total COVID-19 patients in the hospital, and new hospital admissions for covid-like illness are down almost 20%

For elementary school-aged kids, Pfizer tested a much lower dose – a third of the amount that’s in each shot given now. Yet after their second dose, children ages 5 to 11 developed coronavirus-fighting antibody levels just as strong as teenagers and young adults.

In addition, the health department reported two more deaths due to COVID-19 among county residents as of Sept. 16. The additional deaths brings the total number of county residents who have died from the virus since the onset of the pandemic in March of 2020 to 105.

An influential federal advisory panel rejected a plan Friday to give Pfizer COVID-19 booster shots to most Americans, but it endorsed the extra shots for those who are 65 or older or run a high risk of severe disease.

New COVID-19 cases in Illinois children are down for the first time in 10 weeks, and total COVID-19 hospitalizations continue to fall

Illinois now has more than 6.9 million people fully vaccinated against COVID-19, and covid patients in Illinois hospitals dropped to the lowest level since August 28.

This interactive map shows how vaccinated the state of Illinois is by ZIP code, updated this week