 One unvaccinated, young adult was hospitalized.
Although all campers and staff were eligible for vaccination, IDPH
is aware of only a handful of campers and staff receiving the
vaccine. The camp was not checking vaccination status and masking
was not required while indoors. IDPH is reminding people about the
importance of vaccination, including youth, as the Delta variant and
other variants continue to spread.
“The majority of the 85 COVID-19 cases associated with the youth
camp are among teens,” said IDPH Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike. “The
perceived risk to children may seem small, but even a mild case of
COVID-19 can cause long-term health issues. Additionally, infected
youth who may not experience severe illness can still spread the
virus to others, including those who are too young to be vaccinated
or those who don’t build the strong expected immune response to the
vaccine.”
A couple individuals who were at the camp also attended a nearby
conference, which resulted in 11 additional cases. At least 70% of
those cases were unvaccinated. The vaccines currently authorized in
the U.S. have been shown to be effective among individuals who are
fully vaccinated, even against the more transmissible and serious
variants.
[to top of second column] |
Schuyler and Adams counties, where the outbreaks
occurred, are seeing approximately 40% of their population fully
vaccinated.
IDPH continues to assist local health departments
involved in the youth camp and conference outbreaks and is working
with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Specimens
are being sought for genomic sequencing to determine if any of the
cases were caused by variants.
Information about where to get a COVID-19 vaccination can be found
at https://www.vaccines.gov.
CDC guidance adopted by IDPH for operating youth camps can be found
at
http://www.dph.
illinois.gov/covid19/community-guidance/operating-youth-camps.
[Illinois Office of Communication and
Information]
 |
