Illinois residents outside Cook County who are younger than 65 and have preexisting health conditions will be eligible to get a COVID-19 vaccine shot beginning Feb. 25 under the current phase of the state’s vaccination effort, Gov. J.B. Pritzker said Wednesday.
The move comes as the state struggles to vaccinate the roughly 3.2 million residents 65 and older and front-line essential workers who are already eligible under phase 1b of the vaccine distribution plan. Pritzker’s office could not say how many people the expanded eligibility will add to those in the lengthy line for a shot.
Chicago, which is supplied with and distributes its own vaccine supply, quickly opted on Wednesday not to join the state in expanding the reach of phase 1b. Cook County President Toni Preckwinkle, in a joint statement issued with Mayor Lori Lightfoot on Thursday, said the county also would not expand eligibility.
Lightfoot and Preckwinkle said doing so would add more than 1 million additional people to those eligible in phase 1b. “The result would be that those currently eligible, including seniors, frontline essential workers and those in our most heavily COVID-burdened communities, would have an even harder time getting a vaccine,” the statement said.
The state said it is following guidelines from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in opening up vaccination to people with cancer, chronic kidney disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, diabetes, heart conditions, compromised immune systems due to organ transplants, obesity, pregnancy, pulmonary disease and sickle cell disease.
The expansion includes people 16 and older who weren’t previously eligible under other categories.
The Pritzker administration said the expansion is possible due to increased federal vaccine shipments to the state under the Biden administration and because Johnson & Johnson’s one-dose COVID-19 vaccine is on track for emergency authorization from the Food and Drug Administration as soon as the end of the month.
The White House also is planning to expand a vaccination program in the coming weeks through health centers in communities hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic.
Pritzker announced the expansion after touring an Adams County vaccination site in Quincy on Wednesday.
“Many of these people may already be eligible because they’re 65 and over or they’re in a covered profession, but those who are under 65 and live with comorbidities have an elevated risk of serious complications or even death if they contract COVID-19,” he said. “As quickly as we receive vaccine supply, we need to waste no time in protecting them.”
Local health departments “that have substantially completed their existing phase 1b population” will be able to begin vaccinating the newly eligible people before Feb. 25 in consultation with the Illinois Department of Public Health, according to the governor’s office.
Chicago public health Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady said on Wednesday the city would like to start vaccinating people with underlying conditions but only has enough vaccine for 5-10% of those who are already eligible.
“Here in Chicago, if we add additional people right now to 1b, all we do is make it harder for the people already eligible to get vaccine,” Arwady said.
On Thursday, after Cook County joined Chicago in saying it would not expand phase 1b, the governor’s office issued a statement in defense of its move.
“Federal guidance already includes this vulnerable group, and the governor is particularly invested in expanding access because this group includes a disproportionately large share of vulnerable people of color,” spokeswoman Emily Bittner said in a statement.
As of Feb. 4, 134 new vaccination sites were added in the state, bringing the total to 517 locations, officials announced Wednesday. Pritzker said that while the state is making strides in adding more vaccination sites, patience remains key.
“Making an appointment, however, is still an endeavor that requires enormous patience because we still have not received enough vaccines to provide for everyone who is eligible in phase 1b,” he said. “This is extraordinarily frustrating.”
An additional 62,923 vaccinations were administered in Illinois on Tuesday, bringing the state total to 1,480,079. The number of Illinois residents who have been fully vaccinated — receiving both of the required two shots — reached 327,413.
Public health officials reported the state is on track to reach more than 1.5 million doses by Thursday. Over the past seven days, the state averaged 55,135 vaccines administered daily, up from an average of 45,787 daily vaccinations the previous week.
Officials on Wednesday reported 2,825 new confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 and 53 additional fatalities. The total number of known infections in Illinois is 1,152,995 and the statewide death toll is 19,739.
The state has averaged 2,681 cases and 52 deaths per day over the past week, down from averages of 3,212 cases and 60 deaths the preceding week.
Wednesday’s new cases resulted from 82,885 tests. The seven-day statewide positivity rate for cases as a share of total tests was 3.3% as of Tuesday, down from 3.9% a week earlier. The positivity rate has dropped precipitously since the start of the year, when it stood at 8.3%.
As of Tuesday night, 2,082 people in Illinois were hospitalized with COVID-19, with 464 patients in intensive care units and 232 patients on ventilators.
Chicago Tribune’s Gregory Pratt contributed.
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