COVID-19 Weekend Update: 1/15-1/17

By Sandra Folarin and Jeffrey Softcheck, MBA

As vaccine distribution gets underway, we now have data to provide about vaccination progress in Illinois. Overall, vaccinations have increased over 92% over the last week and currently 0.80% of Illinois is fully vaccinated. Another 1.92% of the population is partially vaccinated, for a total of 2.77% that have at least received their first dose.

In the long-term care area, we are making less progress. Only 21.2% of vaccines have been administered to this group, compared to 45% for the state overall. Since this group contains many high-risk patients and large proportion of deaths, this will need to be a major focus over the next few months.

For the other statistics, things are finally starting to look up. Thursday recorded a statistically significant decrease in the positivity rate. Deaths are now in the double digits, a decrease from the previous triple digit numbers. And bed utilization continues to decrease.

While vaccines are here, the new COVID-19 B117 variant is here in Illinois too. Please continue to mask, distance, and get vaccinated when offered to save lives.