The Chicago Department of Public Health had sketched out a Plan B earlier this week, and in a Friday news release confirmed that the United Center’s mass vaccination site, which had planned to shift to the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, will instead continue offering Pfizer.
But, the city said, it will initially run the program to ensure the hospital doesn’t have the same problems that led to a series of negative headlines and allegations.
There were 115,330 doses of the coronavirus vaccine administered Saturday, bringing the state’s total of vaccines administered to 8,054,634. The seven-day rolling average of daily doses is 125,146.
Here’s what’s happening this weekend with COVID-19 in the Chicago area:
2,666 new cases, 10 deaths reported as state reaches 8 million vaccine doses given
Illinois public health officials Sunday reported 2,666 new confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19, and 10 additional deaths. That brings the state’s total since the pandemic began to 1,302,241 cases and 21,663 deaths.
There were 70,106 tests reported in the previous 24 hours. The seven-day statewide positivity rate as a percent of total test is 4%.
There were 115,330 doses of the coronavirus vaccine administered Saturday, bringing the state’s total of vaccines administered to 8,054,634. The seven-day rolling average of daily doses is 125,146.
College of DuPage won’t mandate students be vaccinated to attend fall classes; no decision yet for North Central in Naperville
College of DuPage students will not have to be vaccinated for COVID-19 in order to sign up for the expanded number of in-person classes to be offered this fall, President Brian Caputo said.
But a decision is still pending at North Central College in Naperville as school officials start planning a fall semester in which all students will attend in-person classes, officials said.
State law requires students enrolling in a college or university in Illinois to show proof of vaccination for measles, rubella, mumps, diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis and meningitis. COVID-19 has not been added to the list.
“We’ll be encouraging people to get vaccinated but we’re not requiring it,” Caputo said.
College of DuPage held a vaccination clinic a few weeks ago for local elementary, middle and high school educators at which some of COD’s staff was also vaccinated, he said.
Can the COVID-19 vaccine protect me against virus variants?
The news about coronavirus variants can sound like a horror movie, with references to a “double-mutant” virus, “vaccine-evading” variants and even an “Eek” mutation. One headline warned ominously: “The devil is already here.”
While it’s true that the virus variants are a significant public health concern, the unrelenting focus on each new variant has created undue alarm and a false impression that vaccines don’t protect us against the various variants that continue to emerge.
Here are answers to common questions about the variants and the vaccines being used to stop Covid-19.
COVID-19 booster shots could be needed. Drug companies are planning for it.
Scientists have long said that giving people a single course of a COVID-19 vaccine might not be sufficient in the long term, and that booster shots and even annual vaccinations might prove necessary.
In recent days, that proposition has begun to sound less hypothetical.
Vaccine-makers are getting a jump-start on possible new rounds of shots, although they sound more certain of the need for boosters than independent scientists have.
3,194 new confirmed and probable COVID-19 cases and 23 additional deaths reported
Illinois health officials on Saturday announced 3,194 new confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 and 23 additional fatalities, bringing the total number of known infections in Illinois to 1,299,575 and the statewide death toll to 21,653 since the start of the pandemic.
Officials also reported 88,185 new tests in the last 24 hours. The statewide positivity rate for cases is 4.1%.
The 7-day daily average of administered vaccine doses is 127,425, with 160,014 doses given on Friday. Officials also say a total of 7,939,304 vaccines have now been administered.
—Chicago Tribune staff
Worldwide death toll from COVID-19 tops a staggering 3 million
The global death toll from the coronavirus topped a staggering 3 million people Saturday amid repeated setbacks in the worldwide vaccination campaign and a deepening crisis in places such as Brazil, India and France.
The number of lives lost, as compiled by Johns Hopkins University, is about equal to the population of Kyiv, Ukraine; Caracas, Venezuela; or metropolitan Lisbon, Portugal. It is bigger than Chicago and equivalent to Philadelphia and Dallas combined.
And the true number is believed to be significantly higher because of possible government concealment and the many cases overlooked in the early stages of the outbreak that began in Wuhan, China, at the end of 2019.
One will get a COVID-19 vaccine. The other will not. How do couples navigate vaccine hesitancy?
Couples disagree about many things — where to go to dinner, how to squeeze toothpaste out of a tube.
But now, with adults in Illinois eligible to receive COVID-19 vaccines, different opinions on whether to get a vaccine — one partner will, the other won’t — can affect much more than a meal. It can be the difference between life, a life altered, or even death.
Many people are feeling hesitant about the COVID-19 vaccines for many reasons, which can create a difficult space for couples to navigate.
A Chicago wedding photographer who jumped at the chance to get vaccinated said she and her boyfriend have fought often about his refusal to be vaccinated.
“In our relationship, that’s been the most stressful thing,” said the photographer, 29, who did not want to be named. “We agree on everything else. Our relationship is really strong and sturdy. It’s really just this.”
Downtown Chicago condos are selling again, as buyers eye the end of the pandemic and a return to the office
Lauren Trisler was ready to buy her first home and knew she wanted to stay near Chicago’s West Loop.
She figured she could find a one-bedroom condominium with a den and keep her payments under $3,000 a month. Instead Trisler, 29, purchased a two-bedroom, two-bath condo in Greektown in February that was within her budget, with plenty of space for her boyfriend, dog and two cats.
“It’s like the only positive thing to come out of COVID, was the falling (downtown) housing prices,” she said. “Because I don’t think any other time I could have gotten this much bang for my buck, quite frankly.”
Trisler is among the buyers showing renewed interest in the downtown housing market after attention waned during the past year, as the lure of amenities and access to offices, restaurants and bars took a back seat in many cases to space and relative quiet.
In March, more homes were sold in the Loop and the surrounding neighborhoods than during any other month in at least a year, according to data from the Chicago Association of Realtors. A total of 531 homes were sold across those neighborhoods in March, compared with 418 in March 2020.
Warmer weather, COVID-19 vaccinations and improved consumer confidence after the presidential election have created a “perfect storm” of interest downtown, said Tommy Choi, co-founder of Weinberg Choi Realty. Add to that the reopening of restaurants, bars and gyms and the prospect for employees soon returning to the office, and proximity to downtown is again becoming important.
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COVID-19 in Illinois updates: Here’s what’s happening this weekend - Chicago Tribune
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