With 70% of Illinois Adults Vaccinated Against COVID-19, State Is Watching Delta Variant | New

This was made possible through the Illinois Immunization Program, a program that has enabled the state to provide more than 12 million doses of the vaccine and fully immunize more than 6 million people. Cases have fallen to their lowest level since the start of the pandemic, with a case positivity rate of less than 1%.

Last week, the state took another important vaccination milestone when it became the first state in the Midwest to meet President Joe Biden’s goal of having 70% of all adults aged 18 years and older receive at least one dose of the vaccine by July 4. Illinois provided at least one dose to 6,982,055 people on Friday, reaching 70.9% of people statewide with a dose of the two-shot Pfizer or Moderna vaccines or the one-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

Everything seems to be moving forward normally, but medical experts including Dr Ngozi Ezike, director of the Illinois Department of Public Health, have warned people that COVID-19 is not a thing of the past.

“It’s important to remember that we are still in a global pandemic,” Ezike said on June 10, just a day before the state fully reopened. “The virus may continue to spread among unvaccinated individuals, which could lead to additional mutations and new, more virulent variants.”

These virulent variants can start to wreak havoc in Illinois. The UK’s Alpha variant caused a small increase in cases in the spring, but it fizzled out thanks to vaccinations.

Now comes another threat: the Delta variant, coming from India, the focus of a massive epidemic in the spring that killed thousands across the subcontinent. Delta is considered 2-3 times more contagious than other variants and is already causing problems in the United States, with Missouri in particular seeing an increase in cases in areas with low vaccination rates.

What could this mean for Illinois? Much like other states, while Illinois has crossed the 70% threshold when it comes to getting at least one injection in adults, it hasn’t done enough to achieve herd immunity with 47.26% of the vaccinated population. This is well below the 70 to 80% mark that most health professionals believe is necessary to protect the entire population against epidemics.

Dr Vidya Sundereshan, head of the infectious disease division at Southern Illinois University School of Medicine and medical adviser to the Sangamon County Public Health Department, said an outbreak fueled by the Delta variant is something the State should try to avoid by continuing vaccination.

“This is why getting vaccinated and increasing those numbers is so important,” Sundereshan said. “There is definitely a chance (of an epidemic if) there are more unvaccinated people.”

She says the key to preventing another outbreak in the coming months will be to keep vaccinating and getting herd immunity, citing examples of highly vaccinated states like Connecticut as an example of the ability of vaccines to curb attacks. epidemics.

“Even though the number is lower, if you have a lot of people vaccinated, you benefit to some extent from this collective immune protection,” Sundereshan said. “Advances are occurring in (mostly) immunocompromised people (or the elderly. We know that the antibody response from vaccination lasts at least 8 to 9 months.”

For those who are vaccinated, Sundereshan says there is little cause for concern. She cites studies indicating that two-shot vaccines like the Pfizer vaccine work well against variants as a reason not to be overly concerned about potential cases of Delta rupture in those vaccinated.

“The (Pfizer) vaccine can protect (people) up to 88%,” Sundereshan said. “It’s a little less than the other variants, but the data says it’s effective.”

Illinois enters the fight against the Delta variant in a good position, with cases remaining low over the past week. The IDPH reported 1,744 new cases this week with 66 deaths. The case positivity rate continues to remain at a low point, remaining at 0.8%, with the percentage rate of testing remaining at 0.6%. As for the Delta variant, the state has so far reported 84 cases in total.

The state passed the six million fully immunized mark on Friday, with 6,021,634 fully immunized people statewide. However, daily vaccination rates are at lows not seen since the winter. The IDPH reported an average of 28,798 doses per day administered over the past week, the lowest score since January 24. The state provided 201,587 doses over the past week, with 12,360,117 administered in total.