Coronavirus Vaccine News

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New COVID boosters against Omicron: everything you need to know (UPDATED)

Government health officials said Tuesday that, unless another variant emerges, it’s likely that coronavirus boosters will become a yearly thing, much like flu shots.

By Brett Chase

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot speaks during a press conference at City Hall on Tuesday.

Coronavirus

Two new COVID-19 vaccines will be available in Chicago this week

The city already has been allocated about 150,000 doses of the updated vaccines, and more than 130 pharmacies in Chicago are expected to receive doses this week.

By Fran Spielman

Daisy Murillo, 20, of North Riverside, receives a Moderna vaccine booster shot against COVID-19 on Jan. 18 at Cook County’s Forest Park Community Vaccination Site at 7630 Roosevelt Rd. in Forest Park.

Coronavirus

New COVID-19 booster shots could be available in Chicago after Labor Day

The FDA today authorized the new booster, which could arrive as early as next week in Chicago, where nearly 2 million residents are expected to be eligible.

By Courtney Kueppers | WBEZ

Health care workers put on new personal protective equipment at Roseland Community Hospital’s emergency department in January. COVID-19 hospitalizations rose this week to the highest level seen since January.

Coronavirus

Cook County back down to medium COVID-19 risk level, but hospitalizations and deaths high across Illinois

The risk level was downgraded because Cook County’s case rate has fallen below the threshold of 200 cases per 100,000 residents for the last week — but just barely so.

By Mitchell Armentrout

Respiratory therapist Jean Joseph draws blood from a COVID-19 patient at Roseland Community Hospital in January. COVID hospitalizations are as high as they’ve been across Illinois since February.

Coronavirus

‘Relentless’ roller coaster: COVID-19 subvariants put Chicago area at high risk level — again

With transmission considered medium or high in 94 Illinois counties, residents are being urged to mask up when gathering indoors in 92% of the state.

By Mitchell Armentrout

Nurse Alma Abad checks on a patient with COVID-19 in the Intensive Care Unit at Roseland Community Hospital on the Far South Side in January.

Coronavirus

COVID-19 filling hospital beds across Illinois, as risk level improves to ‘medium’ in Cook County

Hospital admissions have more than doubled since mid-April, following a steady increase in cases since the early spring — a trend playing out in most other parts of the country, too.

By Mitchell Armentrout

Nurse Shannon Lesch administers a COVID-19 vaccination.

Coronavirus Vaccine News

Cook County at high risk for COVID-19 but expected to improve this week

“I know everyone wants COVID to be over,” said Chicago Department of Public Health Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady. “Unfortunately, we continue to see the COVID virus itself mutate quickly, with new, more contagious subvariants emerging every few weeks.”

By Manny Ramos

Ilana Diener holds her son, Hudson, 3, during an appointment for a Moderna COVID-19 vaccine trial in Commack, N.Y. on Nov. 30, 2021. Parents hoping to get their youngest children vaccinated against COVID-19 have some encouraging news. Pfizer said Monday, May 23, 2022, that three doses of its vaccines offers strong protection to those under 5.

Coronavirus

Chicago gears up to vaccinate kids under 5 against COVID-19 following federal authorization

From how to prepare your kids to where to get vaccinated, the Sun-Times answers parents’ questions.

By Mary Norkol

Man works in production of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine for children under 5

Coronavirus Vaccine News

FDA approves COVID-19 shots for children under 5

U.S. kids under 5 — roughly 18 million youngsters — are eligible for the shots.

By Lindsey Tanner | Associated Press Medical Writer

A Chicago postal worker loads a delivery truck.

News

Chicago ranked 8th among major U.S. cities last year in mail carriers attacked by dogs

The city had 35 such attacks in 2021. And with 226 attacks statewide, Illinois landed at seventh in the state rankings.

By Cadence Quaranta

La asistente médica Tyla Wilson lleva una mascarilla y sujeta un hisopo mientras le realiza una prueba de COVID-19 a Brianna Green, sentada y con mascarilla. | Ashlee Rezin/Archivos Sun-Times

Coronavirus

Four more Illinois counties hit high level for COVID-19 transmission, but cases ‘begin to trend downward’

But hospitalizations are still about as high as they’ve been since February, with more than 1,200 beds occupied as of Thursday night.

By Mitchell Armentrout

Terrell Hallom, 15, gets a COVID-19 vaccine last year at an Englewood site. A new study suggests 255 lives could have been saved in Chicago if vaccine coverage had been more uniform across the city.

Coronavirus

Disparities in COVID-19 vaccinations cost 255 lives in Chicago last year

The Alpha and Delta variant waves left 342 Chicagoans dead in less vaccinated parts of the city. That toll could have been 75% lower if more people had been inoculated, University of Chicago Medicine researchers found.

By Mitchell Armentrout

Health care workers put on new personal protective equipment at Roseland Community Hospital in January. Cases are on the rise in Illinois once again.

Coronavirus

Eight Illinois counties hit high risk level for COVID-19 — and Cook County’s not far behind

Cases have been on the rise statewide since mid-March, or a few weeks after Gov. J.B. Pritzker lifted his indoor mask mandate.

By Mitchell Armentrout

Coronavirus

Heading to ‘high’ risk? City, county public health chiefs split in predictions for Chicago area’s COVID-19 future

Masks would be urged for all residents in indoor public spaces in counties that rise to the high risk level. One of Cook County’s top doctors says she doesn’t expect the county to hit that level anytime soon. But Chicago’s Dr. Allison Arwady has said it “could happen potentially even in the next few weeks.”

By Mitchell Armentrout

Daisy Murillo, 20, of North Riverside, receives a Moderna vaccine booster shot against COVID-19 at Cook County’s Forest Park Community Vaccination Site in January. Officials are urging residents to get up to date with COVID boosters as cases rise statewide.

Coronavirus

Bare your arm, cover your face: Officials push COVID-19 boosters, masking as cases hit 3-month high

With cases on the rise statewide, only about 41% of eligible Chicagoans have gotten their recommended COVID-19 booster shot. And almost a quarter of Illinois counties are now at the CDC risk level in which older people and the immunocompromised are urged to mask up indoors.

By Mitchell Armentrout

A memorial service was held Tuesday, May 3, 2022 for longtime WGN anchor and broadcasting pioneer Merri Dee, who died in March.

News

Mourners honor broadcast pioneer Merri Dee’s legacy at memorial

Some 200 people gathered at Christ Universal Temple Tuesday to honor Merri Dee, beloved broadcast pioneer and philanthropist, who died March 16 at 85.

By Cheyanne M. Daniels

People line up for COVID-19 tests in December 2021 in the Humboldt Park neighborhood. Cases are back on the rise across Illinois.

Coronavirus

Mask ask? Some suburbanites advised to cover their faces as COVID-19 risk level rises in Cook, Lake, DuPage counties

Suburban Cook County’s case rate has jumped to 210 per 100,000 residents over the last week, meaning masks are advised indoors for the immunocompromised and people 50 or older.

By Mitchell Armentrout

Masked passengers board an “L” train last week. COVID-19 cases are on the rise across Illinois.

Coronavirus

Highest COVID-19 case count for Illinois in two months

The state public health department has noted that severe cases ending in hospitalization or death have remained very low — though hospital figures are now on the rise.

By Mitchell Armentrout

A person submits a COVID-19 test sample earlier this year at Chicago’s federal courthouse. Cases are on the rise statewide.

Coronavirus

COVID-19 risk level increases to ‘medium’ in DuPage County as cases rise statewide

Three other Illinois counties have also seen their risk level elevated from “low” to “medium” under the latest CDC guidelines. The entire state was in the “low” category until about a month ago when coronavirus cases began to rebound.

By Mitchell Armentrout

Passengers walk off a train at the Clark and Lake CTA station on Tuesday, before Gov. J.B. Pritzker lifted the mask mandate. COVID-19 cases are on the rise across the state.

Coronavirus

Illinois COVID case rise ramps up — but ‘different than what we were seeing earlier,’ officials say

Illinois is now averaging 2,560 cases per day over the past week, a rate that has shot up 138% in the past month. Hospital admissions have also been creeping up. About 39 COVID-positive Illinoisans have checked into hospital beds each day over the past week, a 30% increase since April 1.

By Mitchell Armentrout

People line up for COVID-19 tests in December in the Humboldt Park neighborhood. Cases are on the rise in Illinois again.

Coronavirus

Rising COVID-19 cases prompt warnings for Illinoisans ‘to remain vigilant and remain up to date’ on vaccine shots

The Illinois Department of Public Health reported 3,340 new coronavirus cases on Thursday, the highest daily count in two months and the latest red flag in the state’s three-week upswing in infections.

By Mitchell Armentrout

Medical assistant Cassandra Munoz checks a patient’s vitals in the hallway, as no rooms were open that January day in the Emergency Department at Roseland Community Hospital on the Far South Side.

Coronavirus

State public health officials move away from ‘outdated’ COVID testing positivity rate in favor of hospital metrics

The change in coronavirus data reporting follows new guidelines set by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which place more emphasis on hospitalizations and case rates per 100,000 residents.

By Mitchell Armentrout

A person submits a COVID-19 test earlier this year at Chicago’s federal courthouse. Cases are on the rise again in Illinois.

Coronavirus

Illinois COVID-19 cases rising: ‘Critically important’ for immunocompromised to get vaccinated, boosted

Coronavirus cases have increased in Chicago by 27% since last week. And for the first time in about a month, four southern Illinois counties have hit the “high transmission” threshold set by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, meaning masks are recommended for people gathering indoors in those downstate areas.

By Mitchell Armentrout

Gov. J.B. Pritzker signs a bill granting vaccinated teachers and other school employees paid time off for COVID-19 related issues at the Illinois State Capitol on Tuesday.

Coronavirus

Paid COVID-19 time off now given to vaccinated teachers, who have ‘done their part to keep their classrooms safe’

Gov. J.B. Pritzker vetoed a similar version of the bill after a January standoff between the Chicago Teachers Union and Chicago Public Schools. But the revised version adds the vaccinated provision as another way to incentivize teachers and school employees to get immunized.

By Tina Sfondeles

A teacher at Uplift Community High School in Uptown wears her sticker after receiving her first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine in February of 2021.

Education

Vaxxed teachers to get paid COVID-19 time off under bill Pritzker plans to sign Tuesday

The compromise bill that passed the Legislature last week will also return COVID-19 related sick days to vaccinated employees who had to use them earlier in the school year.

By Tina Sfondeles

Chicago Public Health Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady speaks at a City Hall news conference March 22. Cases are up in the city, but nowhere near levels seen at the height of the Omicron surge.

Coronavirus

Chicago COVID-19 cases up 34% in a week, but city still ‘in good control,’ top doc says

Case counts have remained relatively flat across most of the state, but the average seven-day positivity rate is at the highest point seen in a month. COVID deaths across the state have continued to plummet. The city is averaging less than one viral death per day.

By Mitchell Armentrout

Coronavirus

FDA approves another COVID booster for 50 and up

The Food and Drug Administration’s decision opens a fourth dose of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines to those people at least four months after their previous booster.

By Matthew Perrone | AP and Lauren Neergaard | AP

Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson listens to Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, on Wednesday, March 23, 2022 during Jackson’s confirmation hearing.

Columnists

Ketanji Brown Jackson’s confirmation hearing shows nation still deeply divided

Instead of celebrating America’s racial milestone, some politicians turned Jackson’s confirmation hearings into political theater.

By Mary Mitchell

Nurse Alma Abad fixes an IV flow and attempts to make sure a patient, a 59-year-old woman with COVID-19, is comfortable in the Intensive Care Unit at Roseland Community Hospital on the Far South Side, Wednesday morning, Jan. 5, 2022.

Coronavirus

Statewide ICU admissions for COVID lowest since early days of pandemic, but cases creeping up in city

The low ICU total is just one facet of the state’s broad improvement in COVID-19 metrics over the past month.

By Mitchell Armentrout

Dr. Allison Arwady listens as Mayor Lori Lightfoot speaks to reporters, during a press conference at City Hall last month.

Coronavirus

Pandemic progress report: Chicago in ‘much better place’ now than ‘any other point’ — but don’t ditch those masks just yet

Mayor Lori Lightfoot and Public Health Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady advised Chicagoans to enjoy the sense of normalcy — but to be ready for mitigations to return in case of another surge. Arwady added any such move would just be “temporary,” and “hopefully, it’s not something we’ll need again.”

By Mitchell Armentrout