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Health officials1.5M in state have received bivalent COVID-19 vaccines

The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) reported on Thursday, Nov. 10, that more than 1.5 million people in Illinois have received a dose of the new bivalent COVID-19 vaccines since they were authorized for use in September, with about 160,000 doses administered in the last week. 

The state also reported that it has surpassed the 25 million threshold for total COVID-19 vaccinations. With the Thanksgiving holidays approaching, IDPH Director Dr. Sameer Vohra urged residents to protect themselves and their loved ones by making sure they are fully up-to-date with a COVID-19 booster and a flu shot before gathering with family and friends. 

As of last week, 31 counties in Illinois are at the medium level for COVID-19. IDPH reported 11,020 new confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 in Illinois and 38 deaths since Nov. 4. 

“As the days get shorter and the weather gets colder, we continue to see respiratory viruses spreading rapidly across Illinois and across the country – this includes RSV, influenza and COVID-19,” Vohra said. “The U.S. is currently facing its highest flu hospitalization rate in a decade, with young children and seniors most at risk. Vaccines remain our best tools to prevent the worst outcomes from COVID-19 and flu.” 

IDPH is also offering 1 million free COVID-19 rapid antigen tests to residents in economically disadvantaged zip codes through a partnership with the Rockefeller Foundation’s public charity, RF Catalytic Capital and its Project ACT (Access COVID Tests) program.

Homewood and Flossmoor are not in the areas targeted by the program.

Free or low cost COVID-19 testing locations are also available throughout the state, including in Chicago, and can be found on the IDPH website’s testing locator page

IDPH reported that over the last week, large numbers of Illinoisans are continuing to receive the new bivalent boosters, with an average of more than 23,000 doses of the updated vaccines administered across the state each day.

The CDC authorized two new bivalent booster vaccines on Sept. 1 that include an mRNA component of the original strain to provide an immune response that is broadly protective against COVID-19 and an added mRNA component in common between the omicron variant BA.4 and BA.5 lineages to provide better protection against COVID-19 caused by the omicron variant.

Initially, the Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine, Bivalent, was authorized for use as a single booster dose in individuals 18 years of age and older and the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine, Bivalent, was authorized for use as a single booster dose in individuals 12 years of age and older. 

On Oct. 12, the CDC authorized the updated COVID-19 vaccines from Pfizer-BioNTech for children ages 5 through 11 years, and from Moderna for children and adolescents ages 6 through 17 years.

The updated boosters are available at pharmacies, hospitals and other healthcare providers. The best way to locate a vaccine provider near you is to visit www.vaccines.gov and search for bivalent booster availability.

Currently, IDPH is reporting a total of 3,834,925 cases, including 35,327 deaths, since the beginning of the pandemic. 

As of last night, 1,109 individuals in Illinois were reported to be in the hospital with COVID-19. Of those, 147 patients were in the ICU and 42 patients with COVID-19 were on ventilators. The preliminary seven-day statewide case rate is 106 COVID-19 cases per 100,000 Illinoisans.

A total of 25,002,064 vaccines have been administered in Illinois. The seven-day rolling average of vaccines administered daily is 25,163 doses, including the bivalent booster and first doses. Since Nov. 4, 148,558 vaccine doses were reported administered in Illinois. More than 1.5 million people in Illinois have received the new bivalent booster dose since it was authorized. Of Illinois’ total population, more than 78% have received at least one COVID-19 vaccine dose, more than 70% have completed their primary series of COVID-19 vaccines, and of the eligible population, more than 11% have received the bivalent booster dose, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Data indicates that the risk of hospitalization and severe outcomes from COVID-19 is much higher for unvaccinated people than for those who are up to date on their vaccinations. All data are provisional and are subject to change. Additional information and COVID-19 data can be found at https://dph.illinois.gov/covid19.html.

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