 IDPH
has recorded a total of 4,122,046 cases and 36,687 deaths, in 102
counties in Illinois since the beginning of the pandemic. The
department is reporting 5,584 new confirmed and probable cases of
COVID-19 in Illinois in the week ending April 2, and 16 deaths.
“It is great to see COVID-19 community levels remaining low as we
enjoy some warmer springtime weather,” said IDPH Director Dr. Sameer
Vohra. “While President Joe Biden signed a measure to end the
national emergency this week, IDPH remains focused on reducing the
spread of COVID-19 across Illinois. With the public health emergency
and statewide disaster declaration remaining in place until May 11,
IDPH is actively working with our local and federal partners to
transition our operations and programs for the new normal.”
IDPH continues to urge the public to seek
treatment quickly if they test positive for COVID-19. Treatment is
widely available and IDPH announced recently that SIU Medicine has
made it easier to obtain care by offering a new telehealth test to
treat service for COVID-19, in partnership with the department. The
service is aimed at providing faster and easier access to treatment
for Illinoisans who contract COVID-19. Those who test positive are
encouraged to call 217-545-5100 from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through
Friday and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays to schedule a
telehealth appointment to determine if medical treatment is
recommended. Appointments will be offered on a first-come,
first-serve basis.
Additional options for obtaining tests and treatments can be found
at the following test to treat site or by contacting your provider
for treatment options, within 5 days of feeling ill.
IDPH is helping Illinoisans stay prepared for any future surge of
COVID-19 cases by offering 1 million free COVID-19 rapid antigen
tests to Illinois residents in all zip codes outside the City of
Chicago through a partnership with the Rockefeller Foundation’s
public charity, RF Catalytic Capital and its Project ACT (Access
COVID Tests) program.
Through Project ACT, IDPH is distributing up to
one million at-home antigen tests to 200,000 Illinois households.
You can request one package of five tests on a
first-come-first-serve basis at the Project ACT website. The tests
will be delivered to the home address.
Free or low cost COVID-19 testing locations are also available
throughout the state, including in Chicago, and can be found on the
IDPH website’s testing locator page.
The CDC authorized two new bivalent booster vaccines on September 1
that include an mRNA component of the original strain to provide an
immune response that is broadly protective against COVID-19 and an
added mRNA component in common between the omicron variant BA.4 and
BA.5 lineages to provide better protection against COVID-19 caused
by the omicron variant.
Initially, the Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine, Bivalent,
was authorized for use as a single booster dose in individuals 18
years of age and older and the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine,
Bivalent, was authorized for use as a single booster dose in
individuals 12 years of age and older. On October 12, the CDC
authorized the updated COVID-19 vaccines from Pfizer-BioNTech for
children ages 5 through 11 years, and from Moderna for children and
adolescents ages 6 through 17 years.
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On December 9, the CDC expanded its authorization for
bivalent boosters to include children aged 6 months to 5 years.
Children ages 6 months through 5 years who previously completed a
Moderna primary series can now receive a Moderna bivalent booster 2
months after their final primary series dose. Children ages 6 months
through 4 years who are completing a Pfizer primary series will
receive a Pfizer bivalent vaccine as their third primary dose.
On March 14, the FDA expanded its authorization for bivalent
boosters to include children aged 6 months to 4 years who had
previously completed their entire Pfizer primary series with the
monovalent vaccine. These children will now to be able to receive
the Pfizer bivalent vaccine as their booster, at least 2 months
after completion of the primary series with the monovalent vaccine.
The children in this age group who completed their Pfizer primary
series with the bivalent booster as their 3rd dose (after December
2022) are not eligible for a booster dose of a bivalent vaccine at
this time.
The updated boosters are available at pharmacies, hospitals, and
other healthcare providers. The best way to locate a vaccine
provider near you is to visit www.vaccines.gov and search for
bivalent booster availability.
As of last night, 568 individuals in Illinois were
reported to be in the hospital with COVID-19. Of those, 61 patients
were in the ICU and 21 patients with COVID-19 were on ventilators.
The preliminary seven-day statewide case rate is 45 COVID-19 cases
per 100,000 Illinoisans.
In counties at the Medium Community Level, persons who are elderly
or immunocompromised (at risk of severe outcomes) are advised to
wear a mask in indoor public places. They should also get up to date
on COVID-19 vaccines or get their bivalent booster, if eligible.
IDPH has been supporting pharmacies and healthcare providers in
efforts to increase their inventories of the various FDA-authorized
treatments. There are over 1,200 treatment locations in Illinois -
including all the major retail pharmacies. More than 96.7% of the
state’s population is within a 10-mile radius of one of these
locations.
A total of 26,131,268 vaccines have been administered in Illinois as
of today. The seven-day rolling average of vaccines administered
daily is 2,463 doses, including the bivalent booster and first
doses. Since April 7, 17,243 vaccine doses were reported
administered in Illinois. Of Illinois’ total population, more than
79% have received at least one COVID-19 vaccine dose, more than 71%
have completed their primary series of COVID-19 vaccines, and 20%
have received the bivalent booster dose, according to data from the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Data indicates that the risk of hospitalization and severe outcomes
from COVID-19 is much higher for unvaccinated people than for those
who are up to date on their vaccinations. All data are provisional
and are subject to change. Additional information and COVID-19 data
can be found at https://dph.illinois.gov/covid19.html.
Vaccination is the key to ending this pandemic. To find a COVID-19
vaccination location near you, go to www.vaccines.gov. The federal
government has established a new website that provides an
all-purpose toolkit with information on how to obtain masks,
treatment, vaccines and testing resources for all areas of the
country at: https://www.covid.gov/.
[Illinois Office of Communication and
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