CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) — Chicago’s Public Health Commissioner said a low number of Chicagoans, especially Black and Latino residents, are up-to-date with COVID-19 booster shots — and that’s a concern.
Dr. Allison Arwady wore a wizard costume for Halloween and brought a crystal ball to her COVID update news conference.
“Of course, our goal is not to let COVID-19 haunt you, and getting the new COVID bivalent booster this fall is critical,” Arwady said. “We are not where we need to be as a city in people getting that fall 2022 booster, and my crystal ball tells me we are not going to make it through the winter unscathed from COVID, especially if we can’t get more people up to date with vaccines.”
Arwady said, right now 14% of those in the Latino community are up-to-date, 17% in the Black community.
By contrast, 57% of white Chicagoans are up to date.
She said cases, hospitalizations and testing look good right now.
To date, though, Arwady noted that 7,899 Chicagoans have died of COVID-19, which makes it the No. 2 leading cause of death in Chicago after heart disease.
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