UPDATED 4 P.M. | Tri-County health departments will begin COVID-19 vaccinations for the 1B+ population starting Friday.
That includes people with cancer, heart problems, COPD, diabetes, obesity, pregnant women, and others with conditions health officials say put them at higher risk of severe COVID-19 outcomes.
The Tri-County health departments didn't expand eligibilty to 1B plus on Feb. 25 with other areas of the state, citing vaccine supply issues as the state earmarked more vaccines for second doses.
Peoria City/County Health Department Administrator Monica Hendrickson says that's no longer an immediate concern.
"We're now seeing our first dose allocations increase across the board. And we hope that we continue to see them increase," Hendrickson said.
The health department received 1700 first doses this week and 3,000 are expected next week.
Patients in the 1B+ patients also may be able to obtain vaccines through HyVee, Kroger, Walgreens, or other sites receiving vaccines from the federal government's allocation.
Also starting Friday, anyone in the 1A or 1B classifications who has not received an initial COVID-19 vaccine dose should call 211 to get on the first dose saver waitlist.
Jennifer Zammuto is president of the Heart of Illinois United Way, which runs the 211 service.
"We continually adapt and adjust," she said. "And I think that's one of the great things about 211, whether we're having a pandemic or not. The information in 211 is updated every single day. So we're never sending someone to a site that doesn't have the resources that they're looking for."
Zammuto says the 211 service can be used by residents of Peoria, Tazewell, Woodford, Marshall, Putnam, and Stark counties to be added to their county's First Dose Saver list.
Daily updates
The latest figures on the Illinois Department of Public Health’s online database showed an increase of 3,002 administered doses of COVID-19 vaccines for the Tri-County in the past day, including 2,028 second doses.
That brings the total number of fully vaccinated area residents to 43,142 – or 12.3% of the population. The three counties have totaled 121,635 injections, with seven-day rolling average of 2,674 shots daily.
Broken down by county, Peoria County accounts for 69,511 total doses and 25,124 fully vaccinated residents (13.9%); Tazewell stands at 39,948 shots and 13,900 second doses (10.5%); and Woodford reports 12,176 injections with 4,118 boosters (10.7%).
Illinois as a whole performed 93,202 injections including 45,651 second doses since Wednesday, putting the state on the verge of surpassing the 3-million mark for administered vaccinations – about 6,500 shy of the milestone with a daily average of almost 79,000 over the past week. The number of fully vaccinated Illinoisans is up to 952,141, or nearly 7.5% of the population.
Meanwhile, a Peoria County woman in her 70s from the Cornerstone Senior Rehabilitation Center is the Tri-County’s latest fatality linked to COVID-19. The region’s death toll from the pandemic stands at 585 after adding a single victim for three consecutive days.
The area case count grew to 34,476 with the addition of 52 infections in the past day. Peoria-area hospitals reported 22 patients with coronavirus infections, with just two individuals in intensive care units.
Statewide, 1,740 new illnesses and 22 additional deaths increased the totals for Illinois to 1,193,260 cases and 20,668 lives lost. The preliminary seven-day positivity rate remained 2.9%, while hospitals across the state had 1,200 patients with COVID-19 as of Wednesday night.
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