Illinois State University says 78% of its students are vaccinated against COVID-19. That’s according to data posted Friday on the university’s COVID-19 dashboard.
The vaccination rate is higher (85%) for students who live on campus, but the number hasn't increased much in the last few weeks. The rate was 76% as of Sept. 21. The rate was 61% when students first came to campus in mid-August.
ISU's vaccination rate for faculty and staff is 93%.
All higher education students, faculty and staff in Illinois are required to get tested weekly if they don't vaccinate. ISU adopted the vaccine requirement shortly before Gov. JB Pritzker issued the statewide requirement for nearly all educators and health care workers in August.
The university reported 19 weekly coronavirus cases on Friday. That's down 27 from the previous week and marks the second lowest total of the semester. ISU has had 257 positive cases since students returned to campus over the summer. The data only includes positive tests that come from the university’s on-campus SHIELD testing sites and at Student Health Services.
ISU’s seven-day testing positivity rate is 0.5%.
At the smaller Illinois Wesleyan University, the student vaccination rate is 96%, according to its COVID-19 dashboard. The campus has not reported a student coronavirus case in nearly a month. IWU has reported 92 student coronavirus cases this fall.
The most recent data at Heartland Community College from Sept. 25-Oct. 1 show six new coronavirus cases among students and 209 cases among students and employees since Aug. 2020.
The McLean County Health Department (MCHD) announced 41 daily coronavirus cases on Friday. Twenty-eight McLean County residents are hospitalized for COVID-19.
