CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) – Illinois Governor JB Pritzker announced Wednesday guidelines for the the next stage of COVID-19 vaccine distribution across Illinois, or Phase 1B.
Speaking for the first time in the new year, Governor Pritzker announced Illinois as a whole has administered approximately 207,106 vaccinations, to date, including Tuesday's administration of the first round of second doses.
Illinois' first vaccinations followed Phase 1A of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, with input from the Illinois Department of Public Health. It included healthcare workers and nursing home and long-term care facility residents and staff.
"I had hoped to see an increase in the number of vaccines delivered to us from the federal government after I announced federal delivery reductions to you in December. The delivery of the vaccine has continued at a lower pace than expected," Pritzker said.
He said Illinois is now allotted approximately 120,000 doses per week, 60,000 each of Moderna and Pfizer. From that number, the federal government pulls out long-term care allotments.
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"The good news is that the incoming Biden Administration has pledged to invoke the Defense Production Act, so we expect the vaccine production will grow significantly over the coming month," Pritzker said.
Building on guidance by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices and the Illinois Department of Public Health, Governor JB Pritzker announced Phase 1B will include seniors 65 years and older and “frontline essential workers,”
“ACIP’s guidance serves as the foundational blueprint for Illinois’ Phase 1B plan, with one key adjustment: here in Illinois we are more strongly pursuing equity in the distribution of our vaccinations,” Pritzker said.
ACIP's recommendation only includes seniors 75 years and older.
"I believe strongly that we ought to protect more of our seniors earlier than ACIP has recommended. For the last 10 months, we have seen the fundamental vulnerability to COVID-19 of the entire population of seniors, not just of those 75 years and older. And importantly the average age of death from COVID-19 is much lower than 75 for Black and Latino Illinoisans. While the average white person from Illinois who died from COVID-19 passed away at age 81, the average age for COVID-related death for Black Illinoisans is 72 and it is 68 for Hispanic Illinoisans.
“For people of color, multi-generational institutional racism in the provision of healthcare has reduced access to care, caused higher rates of environmental and social risk, and increased co-morbidities. I believe our exit plan for this pandemic must, on balance, overcome structural inequalities that has allowed COVID-19 to rage through our most vulnerable communities.”
Lowering the age "is one critical component in addressing that," Pritzker said and is the he one way Illinois is diverging from ACIP guidelines now.
"The ACIP term 'frontline essential worker' is really focused on those individuals who carry a higher risk of COVID-19 exposure, in large part because their work duties can't be performed remotely," Pritzker said.
The CDC estimates about 30 million Americans are frontline essential workers, including first responders, like firefighters and police officers; educations, like teachers, support staff, and child care workers; people in essential industries, like the postal service, manufacturing and distribution, public transit, food and agriculture, grocery stores, and congregate facilities.
Pritzker said Illinois is increasing the number of providers who can give vaccinations so they can implement widespread and more equitable distribution. His administration has issued additional non-discrimination guidance, so vulnerable communities "receive equitable, informed access to these vaccines."
Phase 1B will begin when Phase 1A is substantially complete. All in all, Phase 1B totals approximately 3.2 million people throughout the state of Illinois.
"Since Nov. 30, I have maintained, at the advice of Dr. Fauci, of Dr. Ezike, of IDPH and other infectious disease experts, that it would be unwise to downgrade any region from our current Tier 3 mitigations while in the holiday season. When people were particularly prone to gather in multi-family groups and do it without masks, the thing that could deliver the worrisome surge upon a surge. I'm incredibly grateful to the people of Illinois for making the difficult choice to take extra caution around Thanksgiving. Illinois did not experience the post-Thanksgiving uptick at a rate that plagued most of the rest of the country. And we're watching closely in this incubation period post-Christmas and New Year's.
"I'm cautiously optimistic as there are some early signs that some regions have made real progress and won't reverse that progress this week or next. So on Jan. 15, exactly one incubation period from New Year's Day, any region that has met the metrics for a reduction of mitigations will be able to move out of Tier 3 of the mitigation plan," Pritzker said.
"My prayer for the New Year is that everyone stays healthy and all of our regions continue to move in the right direction."
IDPH Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike announced Wednesday 7,569 new positive cases of COVID-19 and 139 more deaths.
Since the start of the pandemic, 999,288 people in Illinois have tested positive for COVID-19. The state’s death toll now stands at 17,096.
The new cases were among 80,974 tests sent to the Illinois Department of Public Health, slightly lowering the state’s positivity rate from 8.5% to 8.4%.
As of Wednesday night, 3,928 people statewide were hospitalized due to COVID-19, with 812 patients requiring intensive care and 451 on ventilators.