- Credibility:
CHICAGO — Nearly 1 million kids 5-11 have gotten their first COVID-19 vaccine dose in the United States, officials announced Wednesday.
That includes more than 6,000 kids in that age group in Chicago, the city’s health commissioner, Dr. Allison Arwady, said at a Tuesday news conference. Those vaccinations have been done through pediatrician’s offices, at mobile sites and more, she said.
There are more than 210,000 kids in the 5-11 age group in Chicago, according to an estimate from Arwady.
To boost Chicago’s child vaccinations even further, the city is holding Vaccination Awareness Day on Friday. Chicago Public Schools classes are canceled and city workers are getting two hours early release so they can get shots or can take kids to get their shots.
The national number of vaccinations is a “good start,” Jeff Zients, chief coronavirus adviser to President Joe Biden, said Wednesday, according to The New York Times.
“Our goal clearly is to vaccinate as many kids as possible,” Zients said.
Local officials have urged people to get their kids vaccinated as soon as possible, especially since holiday gatherings are approaching.
Vaccinations:
• In Illinois, about 7.25 million people — or 56.98 percent of the state’s 12.7 million people — are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to state data.
• Across the state, 56,313 vaccine doses are being administered per day, based on a seven-day rolling average.
• Illinois and Chicago have administered at least 16,123,048 vaccine doses of the 19,171,235 provided to them.
• City data shows more than 1.6 million Chicagoans — or 59.8 percent of all residents — are fully vaccinated, and 65.5 percent of all Chicagoans have gotten at least one shot.
Everyone 5 and older is eligible to get vaccinated in Chicago.
COVID-19 vaccinations are free and do not require insurance. Anyone can call the city’s coronavirus hotline at 312-746-4835 to get more information on how and where to get vaccinated in their community.
The numbers:
• Twenty Illinoisans were reported dead from COVID-19 since Tuesday.
• At least 26,028 people have died from COVID-19 in Illinois, and another 2,901 deaths are probably related to the virus, according to the state.
• The state reported 5,044 cases since Tuesday. That brings the total number of confirmed cases in Illinois up to 1,727,634.
• Since Tuesday, 148,834 tests were reported statewide. In all, 36,675,122 tests have been reported in Illinois.
• Illinois’ seven-day case positivity rate was at 2.5 percent. The figure represents the percentage of people testing positive among recent tests. It was at 2.2 percent Tuesday.
• Illinois’ seven-day test positivity rate, which measures the percentage of tests that were positive, was at 2.8 percent. It was at 2.7 percent Tuesday.
• As of Tuesday night, 317 people with COVID-19 were in the ICU and 149 people with COVID-19 were using ventilators in Illinois.
• In Chicago, four deaths were reported since Tuesday. There have been at least 5,935 deaths from COVID-19 in Chicago. The city is seeing an average of more than one death per day, down 45 percent from a week ago.
• Chicago has had 705 confirmed cases reported since Tuesday. It’s had a total of 332,017 confirmed cases. An average of 403 confirmed cases are being reported per day, up 24 percent from the week prior.
• Testing in Chicago is up 3 percent since a week ago.
• Chicago’s positivity rate was at 2.1 percent, up from 1.8 percent the week prior.
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