Can you start expanding your social circle after you get the coronavirus vaccine?
Illinois medical experts weighed in.
At the same time, the state is expected to expand requirements for those eligible for Phase 1B vaccinations of the state rollout this week.
Here are the latest COVID headlines from around the state:
Coronavirus in Illinois: 1,246 new cases, 34 additional deaths, nearly 60,000 vaccinations
Health officials in Illinois report 1,246 new cases of coronavirus Monday, along with 34 additional deaths attributed to the virus.
According to the latest data from the Illinois Department of Public Health, Monday’s new cases put the state at 1,175,655 cases of the virus since the pandemic began last year. In total, 20,303 deaths have been reported as a result of the virus.
The seven-day positivity rate rose slightly on Monday, with 2.8% of all tests yielding positive results, IDPH said. That is an increase of 2.7% the day before. The positivity rate among tested subjects remained stable at 3.1%.
As for vaccinations, the numbers are still affected by the bad weather that has limited the supply of new doses in recent days. A total of 59,748 doses of the vaccine were administered Sunday in Illinois, with the seven-day moving average now standing at 55,499 doses per day.
A total of 2,256,975 vaccine doses have been delivered to suppliers in Illinois, along with 445,200 doses delivered to pharmacies as part of a federal program to inoculate staff and residents in long-term care facilities. Of those 2.7 million doses, 2,211,700 vaccines had been administered in Illinois as of midnight, including 282,820 for long-term care facilities.
Phase 1B vaccine eligibility is expanding this week
Illinois will expand the list of people eligible for COVID-19 vaccinations in Phase 1B of the rollout, Governor JB Pritzker announced Wednesday.
The state expects to increase eligibility starting Feb. 25, allowing people with a “high-risk medical condition” or co-morbidity to be vaccinated. The list includes people with cancer, diabetes, obesity, women who are pregnant, and people with various other conditions.
Here’s a list of what qualifies as a high-risk medical condition.
Chicago and Cook County do not expect to join the state to expand eligibility.
For a complete list of where and how to book an appointment in Illinois or where to get vaccine information for your area, click here.
More staff will return to Chicago Public Schools Classrooms Monday
Additional faculty and staff will return to the classrooms as the district prepares to welcome more students in the coming weeks.
Under the CPS’s schedule, kindergarten through 5th grade teachers would report to school on Monday, a week before their students return to learn in person.
The move was part of an agreement between the district and the Chicago Teachers Union, after weeks of negotiating a return to classroom education and teacher vaccinations.
Top Illinois doctor says vaccine has been available for months
Illinois’ top doctor promised that the COVID-19 vaccine will be widely available to the residents of the state, but said it will take months for supply to meet demand.
Dr. Ngozi Ezike, director of the Illinois Department of Health, in a weekend op-ed from the Chicago Tribune comes amid complaints about shortages and difficulties getting appointments. The recent blast of winter weather has also delayed shipments, leading to canceled appointments.
“It will take months for our supply to comfortably exceed demand – an obstacle that we have always anticipated, and the very reason why we have spent so much time and attention on the phases of prioritization,” wrote Ezike. “Everyone deserves their turn to get the vaccine, and it is my promise to Illinois that we’ll get there – as efficiently, quickly and fairly as we can.”
COVID-19 Positivity Rate Lowest Since Pandemic Started, Says Chicago’s Top Doc
The coronavirus positivity rate in Chicago is the lowest since the start of the pandemic, the city’s top doctor announced on Friday.
“I am also pleased to announce that today we have achieved 3.5% positivity in the city of Chicago,” said Dr. Allison Arwady, Commissioner of the Chicago Department of Health. “That’s the lowest positivity the City of Chicago has seen from COVID since COVID came to Chicago.”
Arwady noted that Chicago’s positivity rate fell below 4% in the summer, but never to the level the city records as of Friday.
Chicago has an average of 323 new COVID-19 cases per day, Arwady said, which is lower than the more than 3,000 cases recorded per day at the peak of the virus. According to Chicago guidelines, the city’s daily number of cases is also below the line marking a “high-risk area.”
Can you socialize once you are fully vaccinated? Experts answer
After receiving the coronavirus vaccine, when is it safe to expand your social circles or see loved ones?
According to experts on NBC 5’s “Vaccinated State” panel, the answer is a bit complicated.
“One thing we don’t know about the vaccine is whether or not people will continue to shed the virus if they become infected,” says Dr. Richard Novak, Chief of the Infectious Diseases Division for UI Health. “The vaccine is very effective in preventing people from getting sick, but that doesn’t mean they haven’t gotten an infection. We don’t know that yet. And if they do get the infection, we don’t know the amount of virus they shed and that. out of their body is diminished. “
According to Novak, the duration of the vaccine’s immunity remains unclear.
“What we do know is that an immunity actually lasts for at least the three months we had in the study, and if you look at the levels of antibodies produced by the vaccines, it’s higher than a natural infection firstly. , ”Said Novak. “And the antibodies that the vaccine induces are more potent than the natural infection, and the trajectory of the declining antibodies is quite slow, so the antibody level is expected to last for at least a year or more, but we don’t” t, we won’t know until we finish the studies that are still ongoing. “
Likewise, grandparents have asked when they can see young grandchildren after receiving their vaccination, noting that children are reportedly less prone to serious infections from the virus.
“We don’t want to risk the possibility of silently, silently and unknowingly transmitting the virus to the baby,” said Dr. Ngozi Ezike, director of the Illinois Department of Public Health. “The baby could be passed on to the parents and other people in the house. So we still need to take precautions when mixing households.”
But what if both people are fully vaccinated?
Full vaccination would be two weeks after a person gets their second dose of the vaccine.
“To be fair, I think it’s pretty safe for two fully vaccinated – that is, two weeks after their second dose – fully vaccinated people to expand their circle of friends with other fully vaccinated people, and in a moderate way,” said Dr. Emily Landon, Executive Medical Director of Infection Control and Prevention at the University of Chicago Medicine. ‘I think that’s probably pretty reasonable. But I do think it is very important to keep wearing our masks for the most part. ‘
Read more here.