St. Clair County health care workers could have access to COVID-19 vaccine this month
St. Clair County front line workers could have access to a COVID-19 vaccine by mid-December, health officials reported Wednesday.
The general population, meanwhile, could have access to the vaccine by February or March, St. Clair County Health Department Executive Director Barb Hohlt said during Wednesday’s daily briefing.
“Pfizer and Moderna are having their review with the FDA next week, and if one or the other are approved, we expect that the hospitals may be receiving some of the vaccines as early as the middle part of December,” she said. “These will come out in small portions.
“We anticipate the general public having accessibility to this by probably February or March by the time we take care of our medical providers, our first responders, our long term care, essential workers as well as the highly vulnerable population.”
Meanwhile, county health officials reported grim news Wednesday, announcing 262 new coronavirus cases and five additional deaths.
That brings the county’s total cases to 15,469 and total deaths to 260 since the pandemic began. This was the county’s highest daily death total since Oct. 16.
“We’re moving in the wrong direction folks,” St. Clair County Board Chairman Mark Kern said during the daily briefing. “We’ve got to get everyone on the same page washing their hands, watching their social distance and wearing masks, which is especially effective.”
St. Clair County Emergency Management Agency Director Herb Simmons echoed Kern’s remarks.
“Five more deaths in our county today ... it’s unbelievable,” he said. “The numbers are going in the wrong direction. We have to slow this down. We understand everybody is upset, everybody is angry, everybody wants this over with. The virus is still here. It’s not tired. Every time it finds somebody new, it’s going to stay around. It’s time — if you haven’t taken this serious — now is the time.”
Also on Wednesday, Kern and Simmons were on a call with Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, and Dr. Robert Redfield, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Kern said one topic discussed was quarantine times.
“The recommendation is still, if you can, 14 days is the most certain way to make sure you’re avoiding spread,” Kern said. “They did say, within 10 days, 99% people know if they have it. And, in seven days, with a negative test, I think that they felt those were acceptable compromises to the situation because it’s better to have people seven days with a negative test or 10 days than it is ignoring the quarantine completely.
“So I think they’re really trying to encourage people to get quarantined. They realize the fact 14 days, in many cases, is too much for people. But they certainly say if you can, 14 days is the safest way to go.”
Kern also said Fauci encouraged people who have had COVID to donate plasma and that both he and Redfield strongly recommend people to take the vaccine once it’s available.
“(Plasma) is an effective treatment. It is proven to save lives. It’s a proven treatment,” Kern said. “They also addressed what they’re calling vaccine hesitancy, which is, they’re afraid, when the vaccine is rolled out, people may not want to get this vaccine. They were there to assure the public that, although this has been on a very rapid timeline, Dr. Redfield made the point that, for the past 10 years, scientists have been working on ways to develop vaccines in a much faster way.
“And they’ve made improvements from concept to approval, and that has shortened the timeline greatly on the development of vaccines. They assured us that they’re encouraging people to take the vaccine and it’s going to be necessary if we’re going to solve this pandemic.”
Metro-east positivity rate drops as hospitals fill
The metro-east’s positivity rate decreased Wednesday after two consecutive days of increases.
Region 4’s rolling seven-day average was 14.1% on Wednesday, down from 14.3% on Tuesday, the Illinois Department of Public Health reported. The new rate is based on tests recorded as of Nov. 29. A region’s positivity rate is its percentage of positive COVID-19 tests versus the number of tests taken over a seven-day period.
Meanwhile, the Illinois Department of Public Health reported 85% of staffed hospital beds in the metro-east were in use as of Wednesday, up from 84.2% on Tuesday. Additionally, 15.9% of the metro-east’s ICU beds were available for patient use Wednesday, down from 16.6% on Tuesday.
Under rules set by the Restore Illinois plan, if a region falls below the 20% threshold of clinically staffed hospital beds, the state may impose tighter restrictions. Wednesday’s figures marked the region’s 11th consecutive day under the 20% threshold for hospital bed availability and the 9th consecutive day under that threshold for ICU bed availability.
Tier 3 restrictions went into place statewide on Friday, Nov. 20. The third tier tightens restrictions on indoor dining, bars and social gatherings while adding restrictions to casinos, retailers, video gaming and museums.
Over the past weeks, officials have warned about the possibility of the region running low on hospital and ICU beds, prompting some area hospitals to temporarily cease elective surgeries. More recently, officials have publicly worried that the Thanksgiving holiday could lead to another spike in cases and deaths.
The state classifies the metro-east as Region 4, which covers seven counties: St. Clair, Madison, Monroe, Bond, Washington, Clinton and Randolph. County-by-county data is available on the state health department’s website.
Additionally, the region reported a daily positivity rate of 13.2% on Wednesday, down from 14% on Tuesday.
Illinois reports new cases, deaths Wednesday
This information is provided by the Illinois Department of Public Health. The number in parentheses shows the difference from the previous day’s increase or total.
New cases: 9,757 (-2,785)
New deaths: 238 (+113)
New tests: 85,507 (-30,574)
Total cases: 748,603
Total deaths: 12,639
Total tests: 10,699,586
Hospitalizations: 5,764 (-71)
People in ICU: 1,190 (-5)
People on ventilators: 714 (-7)
Statewide positivity rate (from Nov. 25–Dec. 1): 10.6% (+0.2%)
Wednesday’s COVID-19 breakdown for Region 4
New cases (includes cases from Tuesday in Washington County): 771 (+227)
New deaths: 11 (+8) (St. Clair County reported 5 new deaths; Madison County reported 4 new deaths; Bond County reported 1 new death; Clinton County reported 1 new death.)
Daily positivity rate (as of Sunday): 13.0% (-0.8%)
Seven-day rolling average positivity rate (as of Sunday): 14.1% (-0.2%)
Regional hospitalizations: 218 (-15)
Regional patients on ventilators: 27 (+5)
Hospital bed availability: 15.0% (-0.8%)
ICU bed availability: 15.9% (-0.7%)
New cases from nearby counties outside Region 4: 175 (+100)
New deaths from nearby counties outside Region 4: 5 (+3) (Macoupin County reported 4 new deaths; Perry County reported 1 new death.)
ST. CLAIR COUNTY
Wednesday’s new data: 262 new positives, 1,312 new tests administered, 5 new deaths, 17 fewer patients hospitalized, 5 additional patients on ventilators.
Total overall: 15,461 positives, 161,439 tests administered, 260 deaths, 12,817 recoveries, 89 patients hospitalized with 12 patients on ventilators
Additional data: New positives include residents who ranged in age from under 1 up to the 100s. Of the 262 new positives, 102 were individuals under the age of 40.
Congregate living facilities: Integrity Healthcare in Belleville reported 14 new cases and 1 death; Caseyville Nursing and Rehab reported 3 new cases and 1 death, New Athens Home for the Aged reported 15 new cases and 1 new death; and St. Paul’s Home in Belleville reported 2 new cases.
Positivity rates (as of Sunday): Daily — 14.0% (+0.6%); 7-day average — 13.7% (+0.1%)
MADISON COUNTY
Wednesday’s new data: 279 new confirmed positives, 4 new deaths, 1,192 new tests administered, 171 new recoveries, 3 additional patients hospitalized
Total overall: 14,676 positives, 262 deaths, 149,568 tests administered, 7,240 recoveries, 97 patients hospitalized with 15 patients on ventilators
Additional data: New positives include residents who ranged in age from under 10 up to the 90s. Of the 279 new positives, 143 were individuals under the age of 40.
Positivity rates (as of Sunday): Daily — 12.9% (-2.4%); 7-day average — 13.5% (-0.2%)
CLINTON COUNTY
Wednesday’s new data: 73 new positives, 1 new death, 46 new recoveries, 2 additional patients hospitalized
Total overall: 3,453 positives, 58 deaths, 2,674 recoveries, 17 patients hospitalized
Positivity rates (as of Sunday): Daily — 15.2% (+3.3%); 7-day average — 16.7% (-0.4%)
RANDOLPH COUNTY
Wednesday’s new data: 50 new positives, 424 new tests administered, 42 new recoveries, 2 additional patients hospitalized
Total overall: 2,409 positives, 27 deaths, 23,539 tests administered, 2,143 recoveries, 6 patients hospitalized
Positivity rates (as of Sunday): Daily — 9.9% (-1.6%); 7-day average — 13.0% (-0.5%)
MONROE COUNTY
Wednesday’s new data: 42 new positives
Total overall: 2,178 positives, 45 deaths, 16 patients hospitalized
Positivity rates (as of Sunday): Daily — 7.5% (-9.5%); 7-day average — 15.7% (-1.9%)
BOND COUNTY
Wednesday’s new data: 23 new positives, 1 new death, 143 new tests administered, 1 additional patient hospitalized
Total overall: 1,070 positives, 31,354 tests administered, 12 deaths, 2 patients hospitalized
Positivity rates (as of Sunday): Daily — 3.0% (-1.9%); 7-day average — 12.6% (-0.2%)
WASHINGTON COUNTY
Wednesday’s new data (includes Tuesday-Wednesday): 42 new positives, 24 new recoveries
Total overall: 751 positives, 2 deaths, 627 recoveries, 30 patients hospitalized
Positivity rates (as of Sunday): Daily —28.8% (-5.3%); 7-day average — 27.1% (-0.3%)
MACOUPIN COUNTY
Wednesday’s new data: 45 new positives, 4 new deaths, 8 new recoveries
Total overall: 2,498 positives, 33 deaths, 788 recoveries
Positivity rates (as of Sunday): Daily — 21.9% (+0.2%); 7-day average — 11.0% (+0.4%)
JERSEY COUNTY
Wednesday’s new data: 63 new positives, 346 new tests administered, 105 new recoveries,
Total overall: 1,361 positives, 13,589 tests administered, 22 deaths, 1,148 recoveries
Positivity rates (as of Sunday): Daily — 23.2% (-3.7%); 7-day average — 13.1% (+0.6%)
PERRY COUNTY
Wednesday’s new data: 58 new positives, 1 new death, 11 new recoveries
Total overall: 1,227 positives, 32 deaths, 820 recoveries
Positivity rates (as of Sunday): Daily — 10.2% (-11.6%); 7-day average — 17.2% (-2.8)
CALHOUN COUNTY
Wednesday’s new data: 9 new positives
Total overall: 288 positives, 1 death, 219 recoveries
Positivity rates (as of Sunday): Daily — 33.3% (+0.9%); 7-day average — 17.3% (+6.1%)
Editor’s note: The number of new COVID-19 cases for ZIP codes in each county are reported on Mondays. Information comes from county sources and the IDPH website.
State, nation, world COVID-19 statistics
Here are the latest available statistics from the Illinois Department of Public Health and Johns Hopkins University’s coronavirus map as of Wednesday afternoon:
- Illinois: 748,603 cases, 12,639 deaths, 10,699,586 tests
- U.S.: 14,113,667 cases, 277,021 deaths, 8,338,500 recoveries
- World: 64,377,469 cases, 1,490,531 deaths, 44,639,597 recoveries
Testing sites in southwestern Illinois
Here are some upcoming coronavirus testing options:
- Friday, Dec. 4: Belle-Claire Fairgrounds, 10 a.m. to noon and 1-4 p.m., 200 S. Belt E, Belleville
- Tuesday, Dec 8: McKendree University 10 a.m. to noon and 1-4 p.m., 701 College Rd, Lebanon (drive-up only)
- Wednesday, Dec 9: McKendree University 10 a.m. to noon and 1-4 p.m., 701 College Rd, Lebanon (drive-up only)
- Every Tuesday and Thursday: 9-11 a.m. COVID-19 rapid testing at the Clinton County Fairgrounds, 1899 Methodist St., Carlyle
In addition, the testing site at the Jackie Joyner-Kersee Center in East St. Louis has been moved to the St. Clair Square Mall behind Dillards, still from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Hohlt said it will be a 4-tent drive thru to where people can stay in their car. It will continue to serve as a COVID testing site and also be a vaccine site once that’s available to the general public, she said.
Capacity is limited. Hours of operation are subject to change based on available equipment. For more information, visit dph.illinois.gov/testing.
Additionally, Touchette Regional Hospital and Southern Illinois Healthcare Foundation offer daily testing in Belleville and Wood River. Call 618-646-2596 for an appointment.
This story was originally published December 2, 2020 at 5:21 PM.