Since Pfizer and Moderna vaccines were approved in December, officials throughout the state have been administering doses to health care workers and in skilled nursing homes during the first vaccine phase, called 1a. But tens of thousands of those eligible are still waiting for their first shot. On Monday, the state formally moves to 1b, which includes people 65 and older, some essential workers and people in congregate living settings, such as homeless shelters and jails.
Employers of essential workers, medical practices and those overseeing people living in group settings have begun preparing for the vaccination rollout this week, but many say they have received little information from local governments about what to do.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker will join Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle for a tour of the Tinley Park Convention Center vaccination site at 10:30 a.m. You can watch that event live here. Meanwhile, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot and Dr. Allison Arwady will provide an update on the city’s vaccination efforts at 1 p.m. You can watch that live here.
Here’s what’s happening Monday with COVID-19 in the Chicago area and Illinois:
2:44 p.m.: Maine East High School in Park Ridge could become COVID-19 vaccination site for area teachers
Efforts are underway to establish a COVID-19 vaccination site for teachers in the Park Ridge, Norridge, Niles, Morton Grove, Des Plaines and Glenview areas at Maine East High School in Park Ridge.
Maine Township High School District 207 Superintendent Ken Wallace said Monday that the school’s ABCD Gym has been “preliminarily” identified as a site for vaccines to be administered to educators and other school staff, though details on when vaccines will be available had not yet been communicated to the district.
Preliminary plans call for all teachers and staff of Maine Township High School District 207 to receive vaccinations at the site, as well as teachers and staff of District 207′s elementary feeder districts, Wallace said. These districts include Des Plaines School District 62, East Maine School District 63, Park Ridge-Niles School District 64 and Pennoyer School District 79.
2:20 p.m.: UChicago Medicine’s Dr. Emily Landon talks about what comes next as Illinois enters phase 1b of vaccination
Illinois entered phase 1b of coronavirus vaccinations Monday. In this phase, people age 65 or older can be vaccinated, as well as essential workers, including teachers and public transportation workers. The following phase, 1c, will include those age 16 or older with health risks and all other essential workers. That is set to begin March 29. For everyone else who is 16 or older, city officials hope to begin those vaccinations May 31.
But with each new phase come more questions: How can people find out how and where to be vaccinated? And families have concerns like, how soon after, say, grandparents get their second dose of a vaccine is it safe to see them? And what precautions should we still take?
Dr. Emily Landon of the University of Chicago answered readers’ questions in a Facebook Live on Monday. Landon specializes in infectious diseases and leads the University of Chicago Medicine’s infection control and prevention efforts.
2:06 p.m.: Tinley Park’s convention center to open Tuesday as COVID-19 vaccination site
Tinley Park’s convention center will open Tuesday as suburban Cook County’s first mass vaccination site for the COVID-19 vaccine, with the ability to administer up to 18,000 doses weekly, officials said Monday.
Staffed by members of the Illinois Army and Air Force National Guard, the facility off Harlem Avenue just north of Interstate 80, began accepting appointments Monday under phase 1b of the state vaccination program.
1:15 p.m.: Lightfoot unveils plan to send more COVID-19 vaccines to Black and Latino neighborhoods
In an effort to boost COVID-19 vaccination rates in hard-hit Black and Latino neighborhoods, Mayor Lori Lightfoot said Monday she plans to increase the number of doses for mostly South and West side communities while partnering with local groups on a U.S. census-style outreach plan.
So far, the city said, most Black and Latino communities that have been hit hardest by the virus lag far behind downtown and the Near North Side in getting vaccinated. Part of that is due to some health care workers living in those areas, but public health Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady said the disparity is a concern for the city.
On Monday, the city entered a new phase for its vaccination program, opening up inoculations for residents age 65 or older and front-line essential workers, including teachers. As the city worked to broaden its vaccination campaign, Arwady said 1 in 25 Chicagoans have received shots, but in Englewood, the number is 1 in 66 while the Loop is 1 in 10.
1:14 p.m.: Check out how much your college is getting in latest relief package
Illinois colleges and universities, both public and private, are due to receive hundred of millions of dollars from the second COVID-19 stimulus package former President Donald Trump signed into law in December.
Still, the Illinois Board of Higher Education estimates the funds will offset only 27% of pandemic-related costs at the state’s 12 public universities.
In all, the legislation provides $21.2 billion to institutions of higher education nationwide — more than the $14 billion in the first relief bill.
For more on how the money can be spent, and to search for your school’s allotment, click here.
—Elyssa Cherney and Jonathon Berlin
12:48 p.m.: Longtime public defender dies from COVID-19
An assistant public defender assigned to the suburban Bridgeview courthouse died of COVID-19 last week, authorities have confirmed.
James Saracco, of Chicago, worked for the Cook County public defender’s office for more than 30 years.
”(O)ur office is mourning the loss of Jim. He was a valued and highly respected attorney in our office,” said Connie Jordan, the office’s spokesperson.
The office did not respond to questions about how often Saracco worked in person at the Bridgeview courthouse, or when he was last in the office.
Kevin Ochalla, president of the union that represents rank-and-file public defenders, called Saracco “a solid figure at the Bridgeview courthouse for a very long time.”
”He taught a lot of young lawyers over the years how to do DUI and traffic matters and was always a solid resource to go to,” Ochalla said.
News of a courthouse employee’s death from COVID-19 rattled some rank-and-file staffers as Cook County is trying to plan an expansion of in-person court proceedings, which have been sharply reduced during the pandemic.
Saracco was pronounced dead Jan. 18 at Amita St. Francis Hospital in Evanston, records show; the cause of death was determined to be COVID-19 infection with other contributing factors, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office.
12:10 p.m.: 2,944 new confirmed and probable COVID-19 cases and 49 additional deaths reported
Illinois health officials on Monday announced 2,944 new confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 and 49 additional fatalities, bringing the total number of known infections in Illinois to 1,104,763 and the statewide death toll to 18,798 since the start of the pandemic.
Officials also reported 74,202 new tests in the last 24 hours. The seven-day statewide rolling positivity rate for cases as a share of total tests was 4.7% for the period ending Sunday.
11:19 a.m.: CTU continues push for remote teaching a day after announcing collective refusal to work in CPS schools
Reopening safely means reopening later, Chicago Teachers Union leaders and members said at a virtual press conference Monday amid their push to continue working remotely.
“The pandemic is temporary; death is permanent,” said union Deputy General Counsel Thad Goodchild. Rank-and-file members described the coronavirus as a risk to both educators and students.
The union announced Sunday that 71% of voting members cast ballots to continue teaching remotely. In response, Chicago Public Schools said it would push back the required return of kindergarten through eighth grade teachers for two days, until Wednesday, while negotiations with the union continue.
11:15 a.m.: Expanded indoor dining, larger groups now allowed in two northwestern Illinois regions
Two northwestern Illinois regions were cleared Monday for expanded indoor dining and relaxed restrictions on a range of businesses under Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s coronavirus opening plan, state public health officials announced.
In the nine-county region in the northwest corner of the state, which includes Rockford, DeKalb and Galena, and the 20-county region just south of it that includes the Quad Cities and Peoria, restaurants and bars are now open for indoor dining and drinking for parties of up to 10 people, as long as indoor tables are spaced at least six feet apart.
The regions join three other downstate regions — two in central Illinois and one in far southern Illinois — in reaching state bench marks that allow them to return to Phase 4 in Pritzker’s reopening plan. That phase represents the least restrictive slate of rules since COVID-19 took hold in March. Phase 4 initially was in effect for much of the state from late June through the fall. An aggressive fall resurgence of COVID-19 saw the entire state again placed under tighter restrictions in November.
Other Phase 4 perks include reopening indoor facilities such as skating rinks and bowling alleys at the lesser of 50 people or 50% capacity, and museums with a 25% capacity limit. The new rules also allow for meetings and social events that are capped at 50 people or 50% of a room’s capacity.
8:44 a.m.: Moderna says shots effective against new COVID-19 variants, but working on new vaccine for one found in South Africa
Moderna’s vaccine is effective against new variants of the coronavirus that have emerged in Britain and South Africa, the company announced Monday. But it appears to be less protective against the variant discovered in South Africa, and so the company is developing a new form of the vaccine that could be used as a booster shot against that virus.
“We’re doing it today to be ahead of the curve should we need to,” said Dr. Tal Zaks, Moderna’s chief medical officer. “I think of it as an insurance policy.”
He added, “I don’t know if we need it, and I hope we don’t.”
7:32 a.m.: Merck giving up on two potential COVID-19 vaccines after poor test results
Merck is halting work on two potential COVID-19 vaccines following poor results in early stage studies.
The drugmaker said Monday that it will focus instead on studying two possible treatments for the virus that also have yet to be approved by regulators. The company said its potential vaccines were well tolerated by patients, but they generated an inferior immune system response compared with other vaccines.
Merck entered the race to fight COVID-19 later than other top drugmakers.
6 a.m.: Chicago teachers vote to teach from home beginning Monday
The Chicago Teachers Union on Sunday said its members voted overwhelmingly to not return to school in-person on Monday, when teachers and school staff who are in the second wave of the Chicago Public Schools’ coronavirus reopening plan were to report to school to prepare for Feb. 1, when 70,000 of the district’s elementary students are to return for their first in-person classes since schools closed in March.
Asked about the vote in an interview Sunday afternoon, Mayor Lori Lightfoot struck an optimistic tone.
“What I know is that we’re still at the table, we’re still bargaining, we’ve narrowed the range of issues and it’s certainly my hope that we will get a deal done,” she said.
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