Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Monday said coronavirus restrictions in Illinois are on track to be loosened next week as COVID-19 hospital admissions have started to come down from a recent surge.
“It looks to me, if you look at all the hospital admissions data, like we’re in decent shape and moving exactly as I would hope we would for the bridge phase,” Pritzker said at an appearance in Chicago. “I believe it may be next week.”
The state’s incremental reopening plan consists of a bridge phase that would precede a full-scale reopening, allowing a wide range of businesses to open their doors to more customers.
Despite reaching a vaccine milestone in March that was supposed to trigger looser restrictions — 70% of those 65 and older receiving at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccine — Pritzker’s transition phase was delayed due to the recent spring surge.
Meanwhile, Illinois has administered 9,410,057 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine across the state so far. There were 16,920 doses of the vaccine administered Sunday — the lowest number in more than two months — and the seven-day rolling average of daily vaccine doses fell to 78,440. However, vaccine data was not yet available from several area pharmacies from the weekend, so those numbers will change, officials said. The state said 32.33% of the state’s population has been fully vaccinated so far.
Illinois public health officials on Monday announced 2,049 new confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 and 28 additional deaths. That brings the state’s totals since the pandemic began to 1,341,777 cases and 22,047 deaths.
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Here’s what’s happening Monday with COVID-19 in the Chicago area:
7 p.m.: FDA expected to authorize Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine for ages 12 and older by next week
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is expected to authorize Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine for young adults age 12 and older by next week, according to a federal official and a person familiar with the process, setting up shots for many before the beginning of the next school year.
The announcement is set to come barely a month after the company found that its shot, which is already authorized for those age 16 and older, also provided protection for the younger group.
The federal official, speaking on the condition of anonymity to preview the FDA’s action, said the agency was expected to expand its emergency use authorization for Pfizer’s two-dose vaccine by early next week, and perhaps even sooner. The person familiar with the process, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal matters, confirmed the timeline and added that it is expected that the FDA will approve Pfizer’s use by even younger children sometime this fall.
The FDA action will be followed by a meeting of a federal vaccine advisory committee to discuss whether to recommend the shot for 12- to 15-year-olds. Shots could begin after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention adopts the committee’s recommendation. Those steps could be completed in a matter of days.
The New York Times first reported on the expected timing for the authorization.
Read more here. —Associated Press
5 p.m.: Laundromat vaccines? Chicago officials trying to figure out how to find people who still need the shots
City health teams might come looking for unvaccinated Chicagoans at the laundromat, the grocery store or driver’s license offices as officials try to increase the rates of people getting the shots.
Chicago is faring well on vaccine rates compared to other big American cities, Health Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady told aldermen on Monday.
But with the overall weekly numbers of those getting vaccinated falling and the city now having ample supply after months of vaccine shortages, she said the next phase will involve sending teams out to find people when they have time to get shots in their regular day-to-day lives.
“We’ve been working to think about where do these 18- to 40-year-olds, where are they going?” Arwady said. “For the very youngest folks, we’ve been thinking about how to tie some of this to the nightlife, to some of the activities, are there creative ways to do that.”
“But for everybody, we are thinking a lot about where does everybody go? Lots of people are going to the laundromat. Lots of people are going to the grocery store. Lots of people are standing in line, right, like at the DMV or the Clerk’s office.”
Asked Monday about the cost and effectiveness of big vaccine sites such as the one at the United Center, Mayor Lori Lightfoot said it’s time to be more nimble and seek people out, to “bring vaccine closer to residents.”
“And I think where we are, is digging down deeper into areas of the city,” Lightfoot said at a separate event. “And this is particularly true of the Black South Side, which has I think the lowest area of uptick of any of our neighborhoods, we’ve got to do more literally kind of retail door-to-door work of educating people about the safety of the vaccine, why it makes sense for them to get it and then hopefully driving people to the variety of vaccine distribution centers that we’ve gotten.”
Read more here. —John Byrne
4:50 p.m.: Durbin, Duckworth ask federal VA to ensure Illinois veterans homes have proper disease planning, protocols after stinging report on LaSalle home, where 36 died from COVID-19
Democratic U.S. Sens. Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth on Monday asked for federal assistance to ensure Illinois veterans homes have proper infectious disease planning and protocols in place following the release of a stinging report detailing large-scale mismanagement at the LaSalle Veterans Home, where 36 residents died of COVID-19.
In a letter to U.S. Veterans Affairs Secretary Denis McDonough, the two Illinois senators noted the federal VA was part of on-site inspections with state public health officials at the LaSalle Home that occurred more than 10 days after the outbreak was discovered on Nov. 1 and detailed a full-time staffer to provide technical assistance to the state.
“We urge the VA to return to Illinois once again to ensure that (the Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs) has the appropriate protocols in place, as well as training and support it needs in order to continue to protect Illinois veterans from COVID-19 or any future infectious disease outbreaks,” the senators wrote.
The letter comes just days after a 50-page report from the Illinois Department of Human Services’ Office of the Inspector General and the law firm of Armstrong Teasdale detailed systemic mismanagement from the top of the state’s veterans agency down to the LaSalle home, saying it created an “inefficient, reactive and chaotic” response to controlling the virus.
The report said then-state VA Director Linda Chapa LaVia, a former state lawmaker from Aurora, “abdicated” her responsibilities, leaving things to a nonmedical chief of staff who preferred to let each home manage itself, issued rules contradictory to health guidelines and failed to seek outside help as the outbreak grew.
Chapa LaVia resigned as state VA director in January and did not agree to be interviewed for the report. Her chief of staff, Anthony Kolbeck, submitted his resignation last month.
Pritzker last week acknowledged a failure of leadership in naming Chapa LaVia to the post, telling reporters on Friday, “I have to admit that if I knew then what I know now, I would not have hired her.”
Read more here. —Rick Pearson
4:05 p.m.: Walgreens offering walk-up COVID-19 vaccinations at mobile clinic in Chicago
Walgreens is now offering walk-up COVID-19 vaccinations through a mobile clinic in Chicago, in an effort to reach people in underserved communities.
Vaccines are being given from a trailer that was previously used as a mobile pharmacy during emergencies, such as natural disasters or sudden store closures. The trailer has been reconfigured to allow five people to get vaccines inside at once. Walgreens began offering vaccines in Chicago through the trailer about a week ago.
Walgreens is working with local organizations to get the word out about the clinic’s dates and locations.
The trailer will travel around the city the next several weekends, said spokeswoman Kris Lathan. She said a mobile clinic will take place in the South Austin neighborhood Saturday at Healing Temple Church, 4941 W. Chicago Ave., from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. The trailer will be at Little Village Plaza at 3045 W. 26th St. May 15 and 16 from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The trailer will primarily offer Johnson & Johnson vaccines, which require only one dose.
Read more here. —Lisa Schencker
2:10 p.m.: Pritzker says Illinois could reopen a bit more next week as COVID-19 hospital admissions tick down
Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Monday said coronavirus restrictions in Illinois are on track to be loosened next week as COVID-19 hospital admissions have started to come down from a recent surge.
“It looks to me, if you look at all the hospital admissions data, like we’re in decent shape and moving exactly as I would hope we would for the bridge phase,” Pritzker said at an appearance in Chicago. “I believe it may be next week.”
The state’s incremental reopening plan consists of a bridge phase that would precede a full-scale reopening, allowing a wide range of businesses to open their doors to more customers.
Despite reaching a vaccine milestone in March that was supposed to trigger looser restrictions — 70% of those 65 and older receiving at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccine — Pritzker’s transition phase was delayed due to the recent spring surge.
Pritzker said that the more transmissible coronavirus variants, particularly the one first seen in the United Kingdom, have played a part in health officials’ decisions to hold off on further reopening.
“The U.K. variant is the one of course that is most prevalent. It takes hold fairly quickly, and you can see the numbers rise very quickly. That’s why we’ve been very careful not to move to the bridge phase while we watch that variant in Illinois,” the governor said.
The state on Sunday reported 438 additional cases of the U.K. variant for a total of 2,507. Officials also reported 220 additional cases of the variant first seen in Brazil for a total of 899, 42 additional cases of the variant first seen in California for a total of 392 and 10 additional cases of the variant first seen in South Africa for a total of 49.
Despite the delays due to the third surge, Pritzker was optimistic Monday about the state’s trajectory.
“I think the common view is that Illinois has weathered this storm well,” he said. “I talk to the experts about this. I think everybody feels like we’re in a decent position. Again, following the metrics, we believe that we will be able to move to the bridge phase.”
The bridge phase would allow businesses in a wide range of categories, from offices to retailers to gyms, to operate at 60% capacity, up from 50%. Amusements parks, museums and zoos would also rise to 60% capacity from the current 25%.
Ticketed and seated spectator events, as well as theaters and performing arts, would also have a 60% capacity.
Additionally, indoor social events would have a maximum capacity of 250 people while outdoor event capacity would rise from a maximum of 100 to 500 people. Festivals and general admissions for outdoor spectator events would increase from 15 people per 1,000 square feet to 30.
After more than a month of steadily rising, the seven-day average of total hospital admissions statewide peaked at 2,157 April 22 before descending again. As of yesterday, the average was 2,050. It had fallen as low as 1,125 in mid-March before the recent surge.
As of Sunday night, 1,963 people in Illinois were hospitalized with COVID-19, with 479 patients in intensive care units and 249 patients on ventilators.
Read more here. —Jenny Whidden
12:48 p.m.: DuPage County judge orders Elmhurst Hospital to allow COVID-19 patient to receive controversial medication
A DuPage County judge on Monday ordered Elmhurst Hospital to allow a comatose woman suffering from COVID-19 to receive a medication the Food and Drug Administration says could be unsafe.
Nurije Fype, 68, of Lombard, has been in intensive care at the hospital since early April and is now on a ventilator, according to testimony at the court hearing. Her daughter, Desareta Fype, is pushing for her mother to receive a medication called ivermectin, normally used to treat conditions caused by parasitic worms.
Some news accounts say the drug has been effective in helping patients recover from COVID-19, but the FDA has cautioned against using it to treat people suffering from the virus, saying it can interact with other medications and be lethal in large doses.
Another federal agency, the National Institutes of Health, has taken a more measured stance, saying the drug is well-tolerated when used for its intended purposes, but that there isn’t enough information to allow a recommendation “for or against” its use to treat COVID-19.
Read more here. —John Keilman
12:06 p.m.: 16,920 vaccine doses administered, 2,049 new cases and 28 deaths reported Monday
Illinois public health officials on Monday announced 2,049 new confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 and 28 additional deaths. That brings the state’s totals since the pandemic began to 1,341,777 cases and 22,047 deaths.
There were 49,473 tests reported in the previous 24 hours and the seven-day statewide positivity rate as a percent of total test is 3.4%.
There were 16,920 doses of the vaccine administered Sunday and the seven-day rolling average of daily vaccine doses fell to 78,440. However, officials said weekend vaccine data from Walgreens, CVS and Albertsons was not yet available. Those doses will be reflected in numbers over the next few days.
—Chicago Tribune staff
9:20 a.m.: COVID-19 risk greater if passengers board plane back to front, study shows
Boarding passengers seated at the back of the aircraft first — a COVID-era change by Delta Air Lines Inc. and others to cut the risk of infection — actually increases the chance of catching the virus by 50%, a scientific study showed.
So-called back-to-front boarding is also twice as risky as letting passengers on at random, even though it does reduce exposure between seated passengers and those walking down the plane, according to the study published Wednesday in the Royal Society Open Science journal. The higher risk comes from closer contact between passengers in the same rows clustering in the aisle as they stow their luggage.
Delta adopted back-to-front boarding to “minimize contact with other customers,” according to its website, though the U.S. airline only boards 10 passengers at a time. The change was among several across the industry — including blocking out middle seats — to persuade passengers it is safe to get back on a plane.
Read more here. —Bloomberg News
8 a.m.: After rough pandemic year, Boka Group bets big on Italian restaurant in the West Loop
As Kevin Boehm of the Boka Restaurant Group readily admits, last year was not pretty for the restaurant industry.
“This past year has been excruciating,” Boehm said. “But it does finally appear that the pandemic is receding. We have some optimism now.”
He and co-founder Rob Katz are ready to get back to the business of opening restaurants. They are starting with a big one.
Lee Wolen, the acclaimed executive chef at Boka (1729 N. Halsted St.), will helm a new Italian project in the West Loop called Alla Vita (564 W. Randolph St.). The name roughly means “to life” in Italian, which Boehm and Katz agreed has a special meaning for them after the past year.
“The name seems totally appropriate right now,” Boehm said. “Hopefully, we’ll all be able to look forward to better times.”
Read more here. —Nick Kindelsperger
7:45 a.m.: Reaching herd immunity to COVID-19 in US unlikely due to variants, resistance to vaccines, experts say
Early in the pandemic, when vaccines for the coronavirus were still just a glimmer on the horizon, the term “herd immunity” came to signify the endgame: the point when enough Americans would be protected from the virus so we could be rid of the pathogen and reclaim our lives.
Now, more than half of adults in the United States have been inoculated with at least one dose of a vaccine. But daily vaccination rates are slipping, and there is widespread consensus among scientists and public health experts that the herd immunity threshold is not attainable — at least not in the foreseeable future, and perhaps not ever.
Instead, they are coming to the conclusion that rather than making a long-promised exit, the virus will most likely become a manageable threat that will continue to circulate in the United States for years to come, still causing hospitalizations and deaths but in much smaller numbers.
How much smaller is uncertain and depends in part on how much of the nation, and the world, becomes vaccinated and how the coronavirus evolves. It is already clear, however, that the virus is changing too quickly, new variants are spreading too easily and vaccination is proceeding too slowly for herd immunity to be within reach anytime soon.
Continued immunizations, especially for people at highest risk because of age, exposure or health status, will be crucial to limiting the severity of outbreaks, if not their frequency, experts believe.
Read more here. —The New York Times
7:15 a.m.: Cook County property owners must pay first installment taxes Monday or face late fees
A little fewer than 200,000 Cook County property owners have to pay their first installment on their property taxes by Monday to avoid late fees, according to the county treasurer’s office.
Because of the pandemic-induced economic downturn, the Cook County Board waived late the usual 1.5 percent per month late fee for property taxes due March 2, allowing payment without late fees through Monday.
About 197,000 property owners have to pay their first installment by Monday to avoid late fees, according to a news release from Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas’ office.
“Taxpayers like my website because they can pay their taxes online after the office is closed,” Pappas said in the release.
Payments can be made at cookcountytreasurer.com before 11:59 p.m. to avoid the fees. —Chicago Tribune staff
6 a.m.: Public transit hopes to win back riders after crushing year
Taking the Los Angeles Metro for his first trip in months, Brad Hudson felt a moment of normalcy when the train rolled into the station in South Pasadena, California, harkening back to his daily commute into LA before the coronavirus pandemic.
Then Hudson boarded the train, and reality set in.
Not everyone wore masks. Metro staffing levels appeared much lighter. There was more trash on the trains. He worried about security.
As President Joe Biden urges more federal spending for public transportation, transit agencies decimated by COVID-19 are trying to figure out how to win back passengers.
It’s made more urgent by the climate change crisis. Biden has pledged to cut U.S. greenhouse gas emissions at least in half by the end of the decade. That aggressive target will require Americans to ditch gas-guzzling cars for electric vehicles or embrace mass transit.
In Washington D.C., where many federal employees now telework due to COVID-19 restrictions, transit officials are mulling lowering fares. New York City has deployed several hundred additional police officers in recent months after a series of subway attacks. The Chicago area is looking at rejiggering train schedules to accommodate more passengers traveling throughout the day, part of a pandemic shift from traditional 9-to-5 work days. Houston is pledging improvements to 17 of its higher-frequency bus routes, including adding brightly lit sheltered stops with digital arrival information.
Read more here. —Associated Press
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