COVID-19 in Illinois updates: Here’s what’s happening Wednesday
Under the move to phase 1C, Chicago residents who have medical conditions or are essential workers who haven’t yet qualified for the coronavirus vaccine will become eligible for the shot starting March 29, Lightfoot said.
Additionally, Gov. J.B. Pritzker said Wednesday he’s working with business interests and health professionals in developing an incremental reopening plan for Illinois that is expected to be released later this week.
A day earlier, CPS announced a target date to resume in-person classes for high school students: April 19, the start of fourth quarter, though the Chicago Teachers Union stressed there is no deal yet for high school teachers to return to in-person learning.
Meanwhile, Illinois officials reported Wednesday that an average of 102,223 vaccines were administered daily over the last seven days. The 102,390 vaccine doses administered Tuesday brought the statewide total to 4,283,487, officials said.
Additionally, a West Side hospital that primarily serves Black and Latino residents acknowledged Tuesday that it improperly vaccinating workers last week at Trump Tower downtown.
Here’s what’s happening Wednesday with COVID-19 in the Chicago area and Illinois:
1:41 p.m.: Pritzker says health and economy to be considered in incremental reopening plan, as another 102,390 COVID-19 shots administered
Gov. J.B. Pritzker said Wednesday he’s working with business interests and health professionals in developing an incremental reopening plan for Illinois that is expected to be released later this week.
“We’re working with industry leaders, (and) we’re working with our doctors at (the Illinois Department of Public Health) as well as other experts in the state to make sure that the phased reopening is not only healthy for everybody but also good for the economy as we move it forward,” Pritzker said outside Abraham Lincoln Memorial Hospital in downstate Lincoln.
At a stop later in Decatur, Pritzker said the new reopening plan would balance economic interests with the need to stay ahead of new variants of the virus that spread more quickly than the strains that drove the spring and fall surges.
He said the state would have little time to react to an increase in the variants.
“Having said that,” he added, “let me be clear to everybody: I’m more optimistic today than I have ever been throughout this pandemic about where we are going and getting to the end of the pandemic.”
1:40 p.m.: Chicago to begin vaccinating those with health conditions and remaining essential workers on March 29, Mayor Lori Lightfoot says
The city of Chicago will greatly expand the number of people eligible for vaccination shots later this month, Mayor Lori Lightfoot announced on Wednesday.
Under the move to phase 1C, Chicago residents who have medical conditions or are essential workers who haven’t yet qualified for the coronavirus vaccine will become eligible for the shot starting March 29, Lightfoot said.
The eligibility for those with health conditions applies to Chicagoans 16 and older and will follow the Illinois Department of Health’s COVID-19 in Illinois updates: Here’s what’s happening Wednesday