Illinois’ seven-day average for COVID-19 vaccinations fell to 92,747 Thursday, the lowest level since the week ending March 22, as Gov. J.B. Pritzker said the state is continuing to try to reach those who haven’t yet gotten a shot.
“As we’ve reached somewhere in the 50-60% range of vaccinations among our 16-plus population, there are just fewer people who are seeking it out,” Pritzker said during an appearance in St. Clair County on Friday. “That isn’t to say that there aren’t people who still desire to get vaccinated.”
An additional 103,717 vaccine doses were administered Thursday, bringing the total of shots to 9,259,706 as the number of residents who have been fully vaccinated surpassed 4 million, public health officials reported Friday.
Officials also reported 3,207 new confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19, resulting from 108,063 tests. Officials also reported 33 additional fatalities, contributing to a statewide death toll of 21,960.
Meanwhile, Chicago sports fans are set to return to the United Center next month for the first time since the coronavirus pandemic started, officials announced Thursday, among other loosened restrictions touted as the latest step toward a normal summer with more bustle and less isolation.
The city also is relaxing its pandemic rules on indoor gatherings, such as the number of people allowed inside bars, restaurants and churches, Mayor Lori Lightfoot announced Thursday. Outdoor events including farmers markets, festivals and outdoor shows also will be increasing capacity, Lightfoot said.
Here’s what’s happening Friday with COVID-19 in the Chicago area:
6:20 p.m.: Following blistering report on deadly COVID-19 outbreak at LaSalle home, Pritzker says he fell short in hiring of former VA director
Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Friday acknowledged a failure of leadership in hiring a former legislator as director of the state’s Veterans’ Affairs Department following this week’s blistering report that found widespread mismanagement of last fall’s COVID-19 outbreak at the LaSalle Veterans’ Home where 36 veterans died.
Pritzker said he believed Linda Chapa LaVia, a veteran and former state lawmaker from Aurora, was “an ideal person to root out the problems in our veterans homes” following her role on legislative panels investigating outbreaks of Legionnaires’ disease at the Quincy VA home where 14 veterans died.
“But,” Pritzker said, “I have to admit that if I knew then what I know now, I would not have hired her.”
The independent report from the Illinois Department of Human Services’ Office of the Inspector General and the law firm of Armstrong Teasdale detailed systemic mismanagement from top VA officials down to administrators at the LaSalle home, creating an “inefficient, reactive and chaotic” response to controlling the outbreak that began Nov. 1.
Chapa LaVia, who resigned in January and did not agree to be interviewed for the report, was cited in the report for her hands-off management style. The report found that she left her responsibilities to a nonmedical chief of staff who allowed local administrators to run their own homes, gave inaccurate guidance on the pandemic and refused to enlist outside help in the early stages of the outbreak.
6:10 p.m.: With Chicago’s capacity restrictions loosening, couples hope for larger weddings. But they’ll have to navigate tricky vaccination questions first.
When Nicole Bowles and Hosein Heidari sent out invitations to their August wedding, postponed by a year from the original date, Bowles couldn’t stand the thought of trimming the guest list to fewer than 50 people.
So Bowles, 33, of Albany Park, sent invitations to the full 120-person group and hoped Chicago’s COVID-19 capacity restrictions would ease. Those hopes got a boost Thursday when the city announced it would no longer count vaccinated people against the limits.
She plans to talk to family and friends about their vaccination status closer to the event, but many have already let her know they got their shots, she said.
“I feel like my doubts are slowly creeping away,” she said. “I’m crossing my fingers we don’t move backward.”
5:35 p.m. (update): Number of Americans fully vaccinated tops 100 million
Disneyland reopened on Friday and cruise lines welcomed the news that they could be sailing again in the U.S. by midsummer, as the number of Americans fully vaccinated against COVID-19 reached another milestone: 100 million.
Visitors cheered and screamed with delight as the Southern California theme park swung open its gates for the first time in 13 months in a powerful symbol of the U.S. rebound, even though the self-proclaimed Happiest Place on Earth is allowing only in-state guests for now and operating at just 25% capacity.
The reopening and similar steps elsewhere around the country reflect increasing optimism as COVID-19 deaths tumble and the ranks of the vaccinated grow — a stark contrast to the worsening disaster in India and Brazil and the scant availability of vaccines in many poor parts of the world.
5:30 p.m.: Daily COVID-19 vaccinations in Illinois continue to drop, as Pritzker says there are ‘just fewer people who are seeking it out’
Illinois’ seven-day average for COVID-19 vaccinations fell to 92,747 Thursday, the lowest level since the week ending March 22, as Gov. J.B. Pritzker said the state is continuing to try to reach those who haven’t yet gotten a shot.
“As we’ve reached somewhere in the 50-60% range of vaccinations among our 16-plus population, there are just fewer people who are seeking it out,” Pritzker said during an appearance in St. Clair County on Friday. “That isn’t to say that there aren’t people who still desire to get vaccinated.”
As of Friday, 54.27% of those 16 and up have received at least one dose of the coronavirus vaccine.
The governor said mobile vaccination teams are targeting communities that have lower vaccination rates and conducting door-to-door outreach to reach those who are homebound, as well as those who might not “have taken the initiative” to get a shot yet.
“We hope many more people will get vaccinated, we continue to try to get them vaccinated in every way we possibly can and we’re going to keep doing it as long as we need to,” he said.
5:05 p.m.: CPS aims to help teens get COVID-19 shots. The teachers union wants a student vaccine goal met before fall classes start.
Troubled by what leaders say is a lack of a central plan, the Chicago Teachers Union wants the Board of Education to set a goal for vaccinating students 16 and over before the start of the new school year.
CTU President Jesse Sharkey told the board Wednesday that while he is “not an epidemiologist or public health expert,” it is critical that the school board establish a targeted student vaccine bench mark.
“I’m not suggesting I know exactly what that should be,” Sharkey said. “But I think you have to be clear and say something like, ‘CPS intends to get 90% of eligible students vaccinated as we prepare to return in the fall.’ "
With Chicagoans 16 and older now eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, Dr. Kenneth Fox, the chief health officer for Chicago Public Schools, said at Wednesday’s meeting that CPS is partnering with the Cook County Department of Public Health and local health care providers and recently reached out to parents with children in that age group with information about how to find a vaccine site.
“We are doing everything we can think of to encourage people to take the next step,” Fox said.
Establishing a targeted student vaccine goal might also be tricky, as unlike standard childhood immunizations that are mandated and tracked by the Illinois Department of Public Health, the COVID-19 vaccine for those 16 and over, while recommended, remains optional, Fox said, adding: “But we want to know, and we want to figure out an easier way to grab hold of that data.”
5 p.m.: Family hopes Flossmoor man’s COVID-19 death after getting vaccine doses promotes awareness
The family of a Flossmoor man who got both COVID-19 vaccine doses but later contracted the virus and subsequently died hope to bring awareness of the vaccine’s antibody building abilities in some people with preexisting health conditions.
Alan Sporn, 75, tested positive for the coronavirus and died March 29 despite having received his follow-up shot in early February, according to Laurie Sporn, one of his daughters.
He was under a doctor’s care for chronic lymphomatic leukemia, and testing done after he was diagnosed with COVID-19 around the third week of March showed his body had developed little resistance to the virus, she said.
Recent medical studies have indicated that people with certain types of cancer might be more susceptible to COVID-19 infections, even after receiving the vaccine.
12:17 p.m.: 103,717 vaccine doses administered, 3,207 new cases and 33 deaths reported Friday
Illinois public health officials on Friday reported 3,207 new confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 and 33 additional deaths. That brings the state’s totals to 1,335,055 cases and 21,960 deaths.
There were 108,063 tests reported in the previous 24 hours, and the seven-day statewide positivity rate as a percent of total test is 3.4%.
There were 103,717 doses of the vaccine were administered Thursday, and the seven-day rolling average of daily doses is 92,747.
—Chicago Tribune staff
12 p.m.: With capacity limit raised, Music Box Theatre books Lin-Manuel Miranda’s ‘In the Heights’
With Chicago’s new indoor venue capacity limits, movie theaters squeaking by amid the COVID-19 pandemic have a fighting chance, according to Music Box Theatre general manager Ryan Oestreich, to “actually not lose money for the first time in over a year.”
On June 11, when the big room is up to 175 patrons, the Music Box will kick off a two-week run of the eagerly anticipated, John M. Chu-directed film version of the Lin-Manuel Miranda musical “In the Heights.” The movie opens all around the area that same day, while simultaneously streaming on HBO Max.
11:36 a.m.: US closes in on 100 million Americans fully vaccinated
Disneyland reopened on Friday and New York’s mayor predicted the big city will be up and running again at full strength by July 1, as the number of Americans fully vaccinated against COVID-19 closed in on 100 million.
Visitors cheered and screamed with delight as the Southern California theme park swung open its gates for the first time in 13 months in a powerful symbol of the U.S. rebound, even though the self-proclaimed Happiest Place on Earth is allowing only in-state guests for now and operating at just 25% capacity.
The reopening and similar steps elsewhere around the country reflect increasing optimism as COVID-19 deaths tumble and the ranks of the vaccinated grow — a stark contrast to the worsening disaster in India and Brazil and the scant availability of vaccines in many poor parts of the world.
7:53 a.m.: Column: What would a Lollapalooza at 25% capacity be like?
Almost two years after the last Lollapalooza, it is difficult to remember whether it was any good. I remember the comparatively mild temperatures and the long walks (like always) across the beautiful park grounds, but little else — including the unexceptional lineup — stands out. Like most major events, the festival took last year off due to the COVID-19 pandemic. But after a year of waiting and much speculation, the events many once cherished may soon return.
6:30 a.m.: Navy Pier and Arlington Racecourse reopen Friday
Two Chicago-area attractions, one of them the state’s biggest tourist attraction and the other likely in its last year of operation, were scheduled to reopen Friday.
The initial reopening will include the Navy Pier parking garages, Polk Bros Park, the North and South Docks, Pier Park, East End Plaza, tour boats and cruises, the new Sable hotel, and select restaurants at limited capacity. The Centennial Wheel, Pepsi Wave Swinger and Carousel rides will all be open. Indoor spaces and retail stores will remain closed, as will the Chicago Children’s Museum and the Chicago Shakespeare Theater.
Navy Pier will host a 10-minute fireworks show at 9 p.m. every Saturday in May until Memorial Day weekend. According to the reopening announcement, the first fireworks presentation on May 1 will be dedicated to health care professionals and front line workers.
—Chicago Tribune staff
6 a.m.: Watchdog report details large-scale mismanagement of COVID-19 outbreak at LaSalle VA home where 36 veterans died
A scathing independent report on last fall’s COVID-19 outbreak at the LaSalle Veterans Home that led to 36 deaths details systemic mismanagement from the top of the Illinois Veterans Affairs department down to the home’s leadership, which created an “inefficient, reactive and chaotic” response to controlling the virus.
The 50-page report from the Illinois Department of Human Services’ Office of the Inspector General and the law firm of Armstrong Teasdale, released Friday, says then-VA Director Linda Chapa LaVia “abdicated” her responsibilities, leaving things to a nonmedical chief of staff who preferred to let each home manage itself while issuing rules contradictory to health guidelines and failing to seek outside help as the outbreak grew.
Chapa LaVia, a former Democratic state representative from Aurora, resigned as state VA director in January and did not agree to be interviewed for the report. Her chief of staff, Anthony Kolbeck, submitted his resignation last week.
The report also portrays the home’s former administrator, Angela Mehlbrech, who the governor fired in December, as detached from her staff, and the home’s infectious control nurse as overburdened and “over his skis.”
It cites a lack of planning, training and communications at the home that resulted in the failure of contact tracing among COVID-19-positive employees, improper use of protective gear and a screening desk that was “frequently left vacated.”
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