COVID In Illinois: 4,004 New Cases, 21 Additional Deaths
CHICAGO (CBS) -- COVID-19 cases continue to trend upwards as the state reported more than 4,000 cases on Friday, the most since late January.
The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) said there were 4,004 new confirmed and probable cases of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Illinois, including 21 additional deaths.
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The state also reported a new record of COVID shots administered with 164,462 given on Thursday, beating the previous day's number by more than 10,000 shots.
On Friday, Cook County Health released 15,000 single and first dose appointments for people who qualify for the shots. The doses are for those who qualify for the vaccine under phases 1A, 1B and 1C.
Starting next week on April 12, every Illinois resident 16 and older will be eligible for the coveted COVID vaccine. An additional 150,000 of new first-dose COVID vaccine appointments will be available starting on Monday.
Governor JB Pritzker made the announcement on Thursday as he and Doctor Ngozi Ezike, head of the Illinois Department Public Health toured the Illinois National Guard Forest Park mass vaccination site. The facility now administers more than 3,000 vaccinations per day,
The 150,000 new first-dose vaccine appointments will available at 11 state-supported mass vaccination operations throughout Cook and the collar counties starting the week of April 12 as Illinois "opens to universal eligibility for individuals 16 and older."
The state will deliver more than a quarter of a million doses next week to Cook and county sites open to all Illinois residents on top of tens of thousands of newly available appointments at hospitals, local county sites, and other mass vaccination sites throughout the region.
Mass vaccination site and pharmacy appointments for the week of Monday, April 12, will be released on Thursday and over the coming days.
"Weeks ago, we set our sights on April 12 as the date for every county receiving vaccine from the state to open to full eligibility, and I'm so proud that all 101 counties and Suburban Cook have met that timeline," said Governor Pritzker. "Today, about one year from the beginning of the pandemic, the state of Illinois alone has administered over 6.7 million doses of vaccine."
As of now, IDPH said more than 6,800,000 vaccines were administered in Illinois as of Thursday midnight. The seven-day rolling average of vaccines administered daily is 118,336 doses. Yesterday, a record 164,462 doses were reported administered in Illinois.
On Thursday, IDPH reported 3,739 new confirmed and probable COVID cases, including 34 additional deaths.
On January 29, the state's health department confirmed 4,156 COVID cases.
