 IDPH
has recorded a total of 4,100,818 cases and 36,533 deaths, in 102
counties in Illinois since the beginning of the pandemic. The
department is reporting 8,560 new confirmed and probable cases of
COVID-19 in Illinois in the week ending March 19, and 39 deaths.
IDPH Director Dr. Sameer Vohra said that IDPH welcomes the action by
the FDA this week to authorize a bivalent booster shot – and the
CDC’s subsequent recommendation of the shots - for children aged 6
months to 4 years old if they completed their primary vaccination
series of the Pfizer vaccine with the monovalent vaccine more than
two months ago.
“I am pleased that the FDA has authorized and the CDC has expanded
its recommendation to allow this category of young children to
receive a booster dose of Pfizer’s updated COVID-19 vaccine,”
Director Vohra said. “This recommendation now means that all
children in this age group are eligible to receive an updated
vaccine. Vaccines remain the best protection to prevent serious
illness from COVID-19, and these updated shots are formulated to
protect against some of the more recently circulating strains of the
disease. I recommend that parents speak with the children’s health
care provider to ensure that their child is up to date on their
COVID-19 and other vaccines.”
IDPH is also urging 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.
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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, 810 individuals in Illinois were reported to be in
the hospital with COVID-19. Of those, 94 patients were in the ICU
and 34 patients with COVID-19 were on ventilators. The preliminary
seven-day statewide case rate is 67 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 26,093,521 vaccines have been administered in Illinois as
of today. The seven-day rolling average of vaccines administered
daily is 3,445 doses, including the bivalent booster and first
doses. Since March 17, 24,116 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] |
