Gov. JB Pritzker announced yesterday that a new website at coronavirus.illinois.gov is available to provide residents with information about the COVID-19 vaccine. “The website will provide eligible residents with nearby vaccination sites, information on how to make an appointment to receive the vaccine, updates on the State’s plan and eligibility, and answers to frequently asked questions about the COVID-19 vaccine,” said a prepared statement issued by the Governor’s office.
“This site will serve as a hub of all vaccine-related information, directing residents to the appointment booking homepages of our 97 local health departments and our pharmacy partners, which will total hundreds of locations statewide. That also includes information on our first Illinois National Guard mass vaccination site, opening tomorrow at Tinley Park Convention Center, and will be updated as more state-run sites and hundreds of additional local options come online.
“As federal supply is currently limited and every state in the nation is facing a shortage, I urge all eligible Illinoisans to check back regularly for available appointments – and in the meantime, mask up, keep our distance, wash our hands, and remember we’ll stay healthy and safe if we look out for each other.”
The prepared statement said that Walgreens is providing vaccines at 92 sites across the State, eligible residents can schedule an appointment here. Jewel-Osco will begin vaccinating eligible residents today, and the link to schedule an appointment is now live and can be found here.
Over the next few days, additional pharmacy partners will be coming online and opening registration for appointments. Taken together, these pharmacy partners will provide hundreds of sites in every region of the State, said the Governor’s office.
“At this time, these sites will be available by appointment only. As the federal supply of vaccines increases and Illinois receives more vaccine, the State will launch walk-in locations and expand sites to additional providers like doctor’s offices and urgent care clinics. More information about those locations will be released in the coming weeks,” said the Governor’s Office.
Evanston
There were 9 new confirmed COVID-19 cases of Evanston residents today.
The average number of new cases per day in the last seven days is 10.8, down from 16.6 on Jan. 19. For purposes of comparison, on Oct. 12, the seven-day average was 5.6.
Today, the City reported a total of 259 tests, with an average of 1,356 tests per day in the last seven days. The high number of tests is likely due to testing of Northwestern University students.
There has been a total of 3,552 COVID-19 cases of Evanston residents during the pandemic, 260 of which are active. An accompanying chart shows the trend.
In the last seven days, there was a total of 76 new COVID-19 cases of Evanstonians. That equates to about 99 new cases per 100,000 people in the seven-day period. IDPH’s target to control community spread is 50.
The case positivity rate over the last seven days is 0.8%.
One Evanstonian died due to COVID-19 in the last 24 hours. The number of deaths due to COVID-19 is not 105.
Impact of Northwestern University. Northwestern University has posted data on its website reporting that between Jan. 18 and 24, there were 24 new confirmed COVID-19 cases of faculty, staff, and students. The number includes those who live outside of Evanston. The City claims it does not know how many of these cases are people who live in Evanston.
Illinois
In the State, there were 3,667 new COVID-19 cases reported today.
Statewide, the average number of new cases per day in the last seven days is 4,285. This is the sixteenth day in a row that the seven-day average has declined. The seven-day average one week ago, on Jan. 19, was 5,195, so today’s number is a decrease of 18%.
Today’s seven-day average is down from an all-time high of 12,380 on Nov. 17. An accompanying chart shows the trend.
In the seven days ending Jan. 26, the number of new cases per 100,000 people in the State was 237.
The seven-day case positivity rate for the State today is 4.6% and the test positivity rate is 5.7%. IDPH’s target to control community spread is 5%.
An accompanying chart shows that the number of cases per 100,000 people has declined for this week compared to the prior week for Evanston, Suburban Cook County, Chicago, and Illinois. An accompanying chart also shows their test positivity rates, which are down from one week ago.
On a Statewide basis, the number of hospitalizations due to COVID-19 was 3,001 as of midnight on Jan. 25. This is down from an all-time high of 6,171 on Nov. 23.
The number of patients using ICU beds is 608, down from 1,195 on Dec. 1. The number of patients on ventilators is 320, down from 724 on Dec. 1.
On a Statewide basis, there were 87 deaths due to COVID-19 in the last 24 hours, which brings the total to 18,883.
For the last seven days, the numbers of deaths in the State are 107, 123, 95, 96, 39, 49, and 87 today. The seven-day average is 80.
Vaccines
A total of 1,764,675 doses of vaccine have been delivered to providers in Illinois, including Chicago and long-term care facilities. IDPH is currently reporting that a total of 719,995 doses of vaccines have been administered.
FOR A MORE DETAILED ARTICLE COVERING KEY METRICS AND SUPPORTNG RESEARCH FOR THE METRICS, SEE THE FOOTNOTES IN THE ARTICLE AVAILABLE HERE.