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Ill. Plans For 109K COVID-19 Vaccine Doses Pending FDA Approval

Pixabay (creative commons license)
Credit Pixabay (creative commons license)

Illinois is preparing to receive its first shipment of Coronavirus vaccines by mid-December, which will be given to hospital and healthcare workers in the 50 counties with the highest COVID-19 death rates per capita, plus the city of Chicago.Gov. JB Pritzker on Friday Illinois is ready to receive roughly 109,000 initial doses of the vaccine the week of Dec. 13, assuming the federal Food and Drug Administration gives its final OK for emergency use authorization for the vaccine developed by Pfizer next week. Of those 109,000 doses of the vaccine, the city of Chicago would receive approximately 23,000 doses, which it would be responsible for distributing.

The remaining 86,000 vaccines would be distributed to those 50 counties that have experienced the highest COVID-19 death rates, in accordance with recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and the Illinois Department of Public Health.

 

Upon federal recommendation, the initial COVID-19 vaccines “will be dedicated to hospital and healthcare workers in the 50 counties in Illinois with the highest death rates per capita.”

The order of those 50 counties are as follows: pic.twitter.com/uUiIftT3hP— Hannah Meisel (@hannahmeisel) December 4, 2020

The list distributed by Pritzker’s office Friday afternoon includes many rural downstate counties, but leaves off population centers in central Illinois like Sangamon, Champaign, Peoria and McLean Counties. Macon, McDonough, Knox and Tazewell counties are on the list.

In addition to Chicago, suburban Cook County made the list, along with nearly all the collar counties except for McHenry.

Pritzker and IDPH Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike on Friday tried to temper expectations, noting a federal projection of 400,000 initial doses for Illinois had already been cut to nearly one quarter of that figure. But if Illinois does receives the 109,000 expected doses of the Pfizer vaccine, the state and city of Chicago would only be able to inoculate a portion of Illinois’ nearly655,000 front-line health care workers.

However, drugmaker Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine is also slated for FDA review later on Dec. 17, and initial doses of that vaccine could be distributed as soon as the week of Dec. 20, boosting Illinois’ capability to vaccinate healthcare workers.

“No single person will be fully vaccinated even by Christmas, and it will likely be months before people with low-risk factors for COVID-19 see their first dose,” Pritzker said Friday.

 

Credit Gov. JB Pritzker's office

Residents of long-term care facilities are also first in line to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. Over 100,000 Illinoisans live in nursing homes and similar facilities, many of which have been ravaged by COVID-19, and Ezike on Friday said all but five of the hundreds of long-term care facilities in Illinois had signed up for a program facilitated by the state wherein Walgreen’s and CVS pharmacies would vaccinate those residents should they choose to get a shot.As of Friday, long-term care facilities have reported 6,527 COVID-19 deaths in Illinois since March — a little more than half of the state’s total confirmed death toll of 12,974.

Thirty-one of those deaths were recorded in just the last few weeks at the state-run LaSalle Veterans’ Home, where a massive outbreak killed one quarter of the facility’s 121 residents, and sickened nearly 90%.

Read more: Ill. House Panel Opens Rare Investigation Into Deadly COVID-19 Outbreak At Veterans’ Home; Senate Committee To Ask About 27 Dead Residents After COVID-19 Outbreak At LaSalle Veterans' Home

Illinois this week saw the highest number of reported deaths in the U.S. with nearly 1,000 COVID-19 deaths reported, quickly approaching 13,000 confirmed deaths from the virus. IDPH is also reporting 808 probable COVID-19 deaths.

To prepare for the vaccine, Ezike said the state has purchased 20 ultra-cold freezers to accommodate for the extremely low temperatures needed to keep the Pfizer vaccine stable. The Moderna vaccinecan be stored at normal freezer temperatures.

The vaccine trials did not include participants younger than 18 or women who are pregnant, so Ezike said it’s still unclear when those populations might be able to get vaccinated.

Pritzker on Friday praised the scientists and health professionals who have been involved in formulating the vaccines, and said the rapid development of the vaccines is a testament to both government investment in scientific research.

“They deserve our gratitude and our respect and now it’s on all of us to keep wearing our masks, keep our distance and find the patience to allow the vaccinations to be distributed so we can put this difficult chapter in the history books,” Pritzker said.

Copyright 2021 NPR Illinois | 91.9 UIS. To see more, visit NPR Illinois | 91.9 UIS.

Hannah Meisel is a reporter at Capitol News Illinois.