Coronavirus live blog, Feb. 13, 2021: Nearly 400,000 fully vaccinated statewide against COVID-19, officials say

The Illinois Department of Public Health Saturday reported 2,092 new confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19, including 53 additional deaths.

That made for a total of 1,160,523 cases, including 19,926 deaths, in 102 counties.

Officials also reported 84,990 daily specimens for a total of 17,106,909.

The preliminary seven-day statewide test positivity from February 6–12, 2021 is 3.6%.

News

5 p.m. Nearly 400,000 Illinoisans now fully vaccinated against coronavirus

Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times

Nearly 400,000 Illinoisans have now been fully vaccinated against COVID-19, public health officials announced Saturday.

Those 399,166 residents who have received both required shots account for only 3.1% of the state population, but the Illinois Department of Public Health says with 1.7 million total doses administered over the past two months, about 10% of Illinoisans have gotten at least one so far.

A total of 79,704 shots went into arms Friday, which trails only the 95,375 administered a day earlier for the most ever in a single day.

The state’s rolling average of shots given per day is up to a new high of 61,384. Gov. J.B. Pritzker has said he expects that rate to keep ballooning as the federal government ships out doses in larger quantities and a third vaccine from Johnson & Johnson nears federal approval.

Mitchell Armentrout has the full story here.

11:15 a.m. A political ‘monkey wrench’ from COVID-19? Dems, GOP agree Census data delay ‘huge issue’ in redrawing districts

That late release could put the state about five or six days before the constitutional deadline for having maps finished, state Rep. Tim Butler, R-Springfield, said.

“I think this is going to be a huge issue as we try to redistrict this spring without having the data that we need to do the redistricting,” Butler said.

“We’re going to have to do it differently this year given what’s going on with the data, and I have no idea what the other party is doing, but I think it’s going to be very difficult to have districts that stand up to potential litigation when we don’t even have the correct data that may be used in drawing lines.”

Rachel Hinton has the full story.

10 a.m. Following the COVID science: what the data say about the vaccine, social gatherings and travel

The U.S. is inching closer to herd immunity almost two months into the COVID-19 vaccine rollout, with more than one million Americans getting vaccinated per day, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

But with a large portion of the population still waiting to get vaccinated and questions around asymptomatic spread, immunized Americans wonder: Is it safe to leave the house and live a pre-pandemic lifestyle?

Not just yet, experts say.

Getting the vaccine is not a “free pass” to “put aside all the public health measures” officials have been reiterating since the beginning of the pandemic, Dr. Anthony Fauci said in a CNN town hall in January.

Read the full story here.

New Cases

• Public health officials on Saturday announced 2,092 newly diagnosed COVID-19 cases detected among 84,990 tests. The state’s seven-day statewide test positivity from February 6-12 is 3.6%
• A total of 1,724,187 vaccine doses have been administered.
• Officials reported 32 more people died with COVID-19 Friday.
• That makes 1,160,523 total cases, 19,926 total deaths and 17,106,909 total tests.

Analysis & Commentary

10:15 a.m. Computer divide among the barriers keeping elderly from getting COVID-19 vaccines

It’s easy to forget there is an entire generation among us, maybe two generations, who never had to join the computer age.

They have been able to live productive, independent lives without knowing the first thing about using a computer, let alone owning one. Others in their age group might know just enough to check their email.

And now we are telling them they are welcome to sign up for the COVID-19 vaccine, encouraging them, because we recognize they are the most in need. All they have to do is go online to register and compete against more computer-savvy citizens to nab an appointment.

Read the full column from Mark Brown here.