 IDPH
has recorded a total of 4,109,047 cases and 36,600 deaths, in 102
counties in Illinois since the beginning of the pandemic. The
department is reporting 7,879 new confirmed and probable cases of
COVID-19 in Illinois in the week ending March 26, and 16 deaths.
“I am once again pleased to see COVID-19 community levels remain
relatively low,” said IDPH Director Dr. Sameer Vohra. “As we enter
the spring season, I encourage Illinois residents to discuss their
risk for serious illness with their medical provider and perform
safe public health practices to protect themselves and their loved
ones.”
IDPH also urges the public to seek treatment for COVID-19 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.
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.
[to top of second column] |
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, 840 individuals in Illinois were reported to be in
the hospital with COVID-19. Of those, 104 patients were in the ICU
and 26 patients with COVID-19 were on ventilators. The preliminary
seven-day statewide case rate is 65 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 26,113,108 vaccines have been administered
in Illinois as of today. The seven-day rolling average of vaccines
administered daily is 2,798 doses, including the bivalent booster
and first doses. Since March 24, 19,587 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 more
than 19% 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
Information]
 |
