Illinois COVID vaccine appointments & resources

May 17, 2021: 50.7% of Illinois residents have received their first vaccine dose. 36.5% of residents have completed vaccination.

May 14, 2021: Target, Home Depot, CVS and Harris Teeter are among the chains that will continue to require masks in store, though they are reviewing new CDC guidance and reevaluating store policies.

May 14, 2021: Walmart, the nation's largest retailer, says fully vaccinated employees and customers will not need to wear a mask inside stores beginning on Tuesday, based on the latest guidance from the CDC. 

May 13, 2021: CDC: If you are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, you can resume activities without wearing a mask or staying 6 feet apart, except where required by federal, state, local, tribal or territorial laws, incl. local business and workplace guidance.

May 10, 2021: The FDA has authorized Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use in adolescents 12 and older.   This announcement came after Pfizer’s recent trial of the vaccine in adolescents which demonstrated that the vaccine is at least as effective as it is in adults.

May 5, 2021: Walgreens will offer same-day COVID vaccination appointments in all retail locations nationwide beginning Wednesday, with walk-in appointments available at select stores as well.  Since vaccinations began in December, Walgreens says it has administered more than 15 million vaccine doses. (nbc)

May 4, 2021: The Food and Drug Administration is expected to authorize Pfizer-BioNTech's COVID-19 vaccine for administration to adolescents by early next week, according to a federal health official with knowledge of the agency's plans.  The move would allow many American middle- and high-school students to be vaccinated against COVID-19 well before the start of the next school year, using a shot Pfizer claims demonstrated "100% efficacy" in children as young as 12 years old with side effects similar to those that have occurred in young adults.  (CBS News)

May 3, 2021: Walgreens announced that it is launching multiple mobile COVID vaccination clinics in Chicago.  The traveling clinics "will focus on bringing COVID-19 vaccines directly to underserved communities and those with barriers to accessing the vaccine."  The pharmacy giant said individuals will be able to walk up to a mobile clinic and get vaccinated that same day. (nbc)

May 3, 2021: The number of Americans fully vaccinated against COVID tops 100 million.  This means 39% of the nation's adult population has been fully vaccinated.  (abc)

May 3, 2021: The U.S. announced it will restrict travel from India starting Tuesday, citing the devastating rise in COVID-19 cases in the country and the emergence of potentially dangerous variants of the coronavirus.  While the overall number of lives lost to COVID-19 in the U.S. has eclipsed 575,000, deaths have plummeted to an average of about 670 per day from a peak of around 3,400 in mid-January.  (abc)

April 29, 2021: People with a history or risk of lymphedema in both arms, who have (or had) breast cancer, and people who need a mammogram within six weeks of their Covid-19 vaccine should consider seeking a vaccine site that will administer the vaccine in their thigh. “I just advise patients to call ahead, let the vaccine clinic know or the pharmacy know that they’re asking for the vaccine in the thigh,” said Cheryl Brunelle, the associate director of the Lymphedema Research Program at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. “I also counsel patients that if a local facility or practitioner giving the vaccine is not familiar with the thigh as an approved alternate site, the patient can share the C.D.C. Standing Orders document that lists the thigh as an alternative site for both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines.”

April 28, 2021: The United States is reporting an average of 2.7 million daily COVID-19 vaccinations over the past week, according to data from the CDC, about equivalent to levels one month ago. Daily reported vaccinations peaked at 3.4 million on April 13. More than 40% of Americans have received at least one shot, and that figure is roughly 54% for those age 18 and older. Half of the adults are at least partially vaccinated in a majority of states. (CNBC)

April 27, 2021: The rate of COVID-19 vaccinations in the U.S. continued to slide in recent days, according to CDC data, as the seven-day average of daily shots reported administered fell to 2.7 million on Monday, the lowest level since late March.

April 26, 2021: The Madison County Health Department (MCHD) is now accepting walk-in appointments at its COVID-19 vaccination clinics. Appointments are preferred to help with planning but walk-ins are now welcome.

April 26, 2021: As of Sunday, April 25, Virginia has had 654,210 total cases of COVID-19, including confirmed lab tests and clinical diagnoses, according to the Virginia Department of Health. That total reflects a 884 case increase since Saturday. The Virginia Department of Health reports a 6.1% 7-day positivity rate for total testing encounters, and a 5.5% 7-day positivity rate for PCR tests. 16 additional deaths were reported on Sunday, leaving the death toll at 10,691.

April 23, 2021: A single dose of Oxford-AstraZeneca or Pfizer-BioNTech’s Covid-19 vaccine reduces the risk of infection by 65% in adults of all ages, British researchers have found.

April 23, 2021: A CDC advisory committee called the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices is set to meet on Friday to continue its discussion of the rare blood clots seen in a small number of patients who have received Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine.

April 23, 2021: CDC: Johnson & Johnson vaccine administration should be resumed immediately with a warning about potential rare blood clots

April 22, 2021: More than 86 million U.S. adults are now fully vaccinated with more than 200 million shots administered, but experts fear that enthusiasm for getting the vaccine could be falling and many Americans may be too eager to take off their masks.

April 21, 2021: 31.2% of Louisiana residents have received their first vaccine dose. 24.1% of residents have completed vaccination.

April 21, 2021: One of the largest reports on COVID-19 vaccination in pregnancy boosts evidence that it is safe although the authors say more comprehensive research is needed.The study consisted of 35,000 U.S. women who received either the Moderna or Pfizer shots while pregnant. Their rates of miscarriage, premature births and other complications were comparable to those observed in published reports on pregnant women before the pandemic.

April 20, 2021: The University of Chicago Medicine is collaborating with a coalition of 60 of America's top hospitals and health care institutions on a nationwide campaign to encourage COVID-19 vaccination. The "Get the Vaccine to Save Lives" campaign is designed to reassure the public that vaccines are safe, effective and necessary to achieve herd immunity and a return to normal activities.

April 19, 2021: According to data compiled by Denver Public Health, Latinos comprise only 13 percent of city residents who have gotten an initial shot, compared to 72 percent of white residents (the race and/or ethnicity of at least 12 percent of people who got their first vaccine is unknown). Meanwhile, Latinos make up 48 percent of COVID-19 cases in the city and 30 percent of the city’s overall population.

April 19, 2021: Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine, which currently requires two doses and is said to be over 90 percent effective against the virus, will likely include a third shot made available later this year.

April 18, 2021: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has announced that half of all US adults have received at least one COVID shot.  Nearly 130 million people 18 and older, or 50.4% of the total adult population, have received at least one dose of a vaccine. Almost 84 million adults, or about 32.5% of the population, have been fully vaccinated. (CDC)

April 16, 2021: Pfizer CEO announced that recipients of their vaccine will likely need a booster shot within 12 months.  He stated that "I think for planning purposes only, we should expect that we may have to boost.”  A booster shot may be an important safeguard against new variants of the COVID-19 virus. (nbc)

April 15, 2021: Dr. Fauci says this is a pause and not a cancellation of the Johnson & Johnson COVID vaccine. It will likely last days to weeks to determine next steps. "I doubt very seriously if we're talking about weeks to months," he told CNN on Wednesday. 

April 13, 2021: CDC and FDA recommend US pause use of Johnson & Johnson's Covid-19 vaccine over blood clot concerns;  six reported US cases of a "rare and severe" type of blood clot caused the initial concern.

April 12, 2021: All Illinois residents 16 and older are now eligible to schedule their vaccination appointment.  The FEMA mass vaccination site at the Dome at America's Center is open seven days a week from 8 AM to 6 PM for the next several weeks, and is allowing walk-ins.  

April 9, 2021: Just short of 20 percent of the U.S. population was fully vaccinated, giving some 66 million people a strong measure of protection against a disease that has already killed more than 500,000 Americans. (Washington Post)

April 6, 2021: Vaccination eligibility is opening up throughout the country. However, there are more people eligible for a vaccine right now than there are doses. Securing an appointment continues to be a long, difficult process for many. Here are 10 tips for getting a vaccine sooner →

April 6, 2021: President Joe Biden is expected to announce that states should open COVID-19 vaccine appointments to all U.S. adults by April 19, moving up his original deadline by nearly two weeks, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki confirmed Tuesday.

April 4, 2021: Illinois’ coronavirus positivity rate remains at a two-month high, seeing a troubling upward trend in its pandemic numbers that could lead officials to tighten restrictions on businesses once again.

April 3, 2021: COVID-19 vaccine appointments at Chicago State University are now open to certain zip codes. The Chicago State University site will serve 1,200 walk-up and 1,000 drive-thru appointments a day. It will operate six days a week, Monday through Friday from noon to 6 p.m. and on Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

April 3, 2021: Pfizer/BioNTech have announced their COVID-19 vaccine affords at least 6 months of protection following the second dose. The vaccine was 91.3% effective against COVID-19 in an analysis of 927 symptomatic people through March 13, as indicated by real-world data compiled since the vaccine was given emergency use authorization. This compares to 95% efficacy reported in the interim results that were announced on Nov. 18, 2020.

April 3, 2021: More than 100 million people in the U.S. have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Friday. The news comes just two weeks after President Joe Biden announced he reached his 100-day goal of administering 100 million doses and expanded his goal to 200 million. As of Thursday, 157.6 million doses have been administered, according to CDC data. More than 200 million doses have been delivered to states and vaccine providers.

April 3, 2021: The Biden administration on Saturday put Johnson & Johnson in charge of a Baltimore manufacturing plant that ruined 15 million doses of its COVID-19 vaccine, and stopped the facility from making another vaccine developed by AstraZeneca.

April 3, 2021: More than 4 million doses of the coronavirus vaccine were administered in the past 24 hours, setting a new record and bringing the seven-day average over 3 million a day, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Saturday.

April 2, 2021: Fauci said the United States has enough contracts with other vaccine makers to vaccinate its entire population, and may not need AstraZeneca Covid vaccine even for booster shots in the fall

April 2, 2021: A recent study of 131 women recently conducted by Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston and published in The American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology shows the COVID vaccines are not only safe and effective for pregnant and breastfeeding women, they may also offer some protection for their babies.

March 31, 2021: Pfizer says its COVID-19 vaccine is safe and 100% effective in preventing the illness in ages 12 to 15 and plans to request emergency use authorization extending vaccine administration to the adolescent age group. 

March 31, 2021: Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the CDC: "Vaccinated people do not carry the virus — they don’t get sick.” Walensky was referring to a new CDC study that suggests those fully inoculated with the vaccines produced by Moderna and Pfizer don’t transmit the virus.

March 30, 2021: Ninety percent of Americans will be eligible for their shots by April 19, President Joe Biden said yesterday as he expanded the number of vaccine sites. More than a dozen states are opening vaccines to all adults this week.

March 29, 2021: Illinois expands eligibility to additional essential workers on Monday, March 29. Some groups that are included in this new phase are food and beverage workers, construction trade workers and religious leaders. Meanwhile, Chicago is moving into the next phase of its vaccine rollout, Phase 1C, expanding eligibility for residents with underlying health conditions and an additional group of essential workers.

March 25, 2021: As of Wednesday 16,000 First dose appointments have been released around several locations in Cook county to Phase 1b eligible residents. To sign up online, go to vaccine.cookcountyil.gov. Residents can also make appointments 833-308-1988.

March 25, 2021: Pregnant mothers pass COVID antibodies to their newborns.  A large study at Massachusetts General Hospital has determined that mothers pass COVID immunity to their children through the placenta and breastmilk. [harvard.edu]

March 11, 2021: As of March 13, CVS has added 12 more states to its list of pharmacies offering vaccinations. The new states are: Colorado, Illinois, Kentucky, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, North Carolina, North Dakota, Nevada, Oklahoma, Utah and Vermont. After previously expanding to New York and Pennsylvania.

March 1, 2021: The FDA has authorized use of Johnson & Johnson's single-dose vaccine.

February 25, 2021: Chicago to prioritize homeless populations and congregate care settings to protect vulnerable residents.

February 25, 2021: Pfizer expects to triple its vaccine production by mid-March.  An FDA advisory board will meet to determine whether to grant Johnson & Johnson an EAU.

February 12, 2021: CVS, Hy-Vee and Walgreens to begin administering vaccines February 12, 2021

February 11, 2021: All counties apart from Cook County and the city of Chicago plan to extend eligibility to frontline essential employees such as utilities, education personnel and government workers, as well as seniors 65 and older on February 25, 2021.