More than 40,000 people fully vaccinated against COVID-19 in southwestern Illinois

Nearly 160,000 people had received at least one vaccination dose in the metro-east as of Thursday, while more than 40,000 residents have been fully vaccinated, according to the state.

According to data from the Illinois Department of Public Health on Wednesday, Region 4 counties have administered 159,385 vaccinations and fully vaccinated 41,713 people.

St. Clair County had administered the most vaccines in the region with a total of 66,156 as of Thursday and fully vaccinated the most people with a total of 17,569. Meanwhile, Madison County had administered 58,462 doses and fully vaccinated 12,838 people as of Thursday.

Vaccinations of healthcare workers and others in the 1A vaccinations group began in mid-December and have been ongoing.

Vaccinations in Phase 1B are by appointment only at some pharmacies, as well as state-run and locally-run clinics. More detailed information about locations will be announced at coronavirus.illinois.gov.

Here’s how you can let your county health department know you are interested in setting up a COVID-19 vaccine appointment when you become eligible:

• St. Clair County: Fill out the COVID-19 Notification for Vaccine Availability form online at health.co.st-clair.il.us. (If you don’t have internet access or need help signing up, call the health department at 618-825-4447.)
• Madison County: Schedule an appointment with the Madison County Health Department at their website: https://www.co.madison.il.us/departments/health/
• Clinton County: Fill out the Clinton County, IL Health Department COVID-19 Vaccine Registry online at clintoncountyhealth.com or call the health department at 618-594-6622 to be added to the vaccine waitlist. (The waitlist is currently only for residents who are 65 years old or older. You don’t need to fill out the form if you already called to get on the waitlist.)
• Monroe County: Sign up for the phone and email alert system CodeRED.
• Randolph County: Call the health department at 618-826-5007 or fill out one of the following vaccine waiting lists: Memorial Hospital COVID-19 Vaccination Sign-Up online at mhchester.com/covidvax; or Red Bud Regional Hospital’s COVID-19 Vaccine Waiting List online at redbudanytime.com. (The waitlists are currently only for residents who are 65 years old or older.)
• Bond County: Fill out the Bond County, IL Health Department COVID-19 Vaccine Registry online at bchd.us to be added to the vaccine waitlist. (The waitlist is currently only for residents who are 65 years old or older, health care workers and frontline essential workers, including teachers, first responders and grocery store employees. You do not need to fill out the form if you already called the health department to get on the waitlist.)
• Washington County: Call the health department at 618-327-3644 to be added to the vaccine waitlist. (The waitlist is currently only for residents who are 65 years old or older.)

COVID-19 case rate stays the same

The rate of new COVID-19 cases in the metro-east remained static Thursday as the Illinois Department of Public Health reported the region’s COVID-19 seven-day average positivity rate stayed at 4.0%, the same as Wednesday.

The rate remains below the 6% threshold set by the state that helps determine if COVID-19 mitigation efforts used to slow the spread of the virus need to be increased or relaxed. The rate has been below 6% for 30 straight days.

Overall, the rate has been steadily dropping since the start of the new year. On Jan 1. , the regional average case rate stood at 13.5%.

The region also reported a daily positivity rate of 6.0% on Thursday, a sharp rise from 3.7% on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, the availability of intensive care unit beds improved to 32% on Thursday. The ICU availability is the highest the region has seen since mid-November.

On Thursday, Feb. 4, state health officials announced they were easing indoor dining and other restrictions in the metro-east, moving the region from Tier 2 to Phase 4 of the Restore Illinois Plan effective immediately. Additional information about which tier and phase regions are in can be found at the top of the IDPH website homepage.

Phase 4 guidelines include the following:

• Restaurants and bars: Indoor dining and drinking now permitted for parties of up to 10 people. Seated areas should be arranged so that tables allow for 6 feet between parties; impermeable barriers may be installed between booths that are less than 6 feet apart.
• Retail and service counter: Continue capacity limit of no more than 50% occupancy.
• Personal care: Continue capacity limit of no more than 50% occupancy.
• Indoor/outdoor recreation: Reopening select indoor recreation facilities (e.g., bowling alleys, skating rinks); indoor playgrounds and trampoline parks should remain closed; indoor recreation to operate at lesser of 50 customers or 50% of facility capacity.
• Museums: Capacity limit of no more than 25% occupancy; guided tours should be limited to 50 or fewer people per group.
• Meetings and social events: Limit to the lesser of 50 people or 50% of room capacity; multiple groups may meet in the same facility if they are socially distanced and in separate rooms.

The region had to meet the following metrics to move to Tier 1:

• Test positivity rate between 6.5% and 8% for three consecutive days on a seven-day average.
• Staffed ICU bed availability must be at 20% or more for three consecutive days on a seven-day average.
• No sustained increase in COVID patients in the hospital on a seven-day average for seven of 10 days.

The metro-east, or Region 4, consists of Bond, Clinton, Madison, Monroe, Randolph, St. Clair, and Washington counties.

A region’s positivity rate is its percentage of positive COVID-19 tests versus the number of tests taken over a seven-day period.

State of Illinois vaccine update Thursday

A total of 3,563,775 vaccine doses have been delivered to providers in Illinois, including Chicago. In addition, approximately 443,700 doses total have been allocated to the federal government’s Pharmacy Partnership Program for long-term care facilities.

This brings the total Illinois doses to 4,007,475. A total of 2,993,543 vaccines have been administered in Illinois as of last midnight, including 330,328 for long-term care facilities. The seven-day rolling average of vaccines administered daily is 78,942 doses. On Wednesday, 93,302 doses were administered in Illinois.

Meanwhile, the state reported Thursday that 952,141 people — roughly 7.47% of its population — have been fully vaccinated.

For health questions about COVID-19, call the hotline at 1-800-889-3931 or email dph.sick@illinois.gov.

Illinois announces new cases, deaths

The state of Illinois announced 1,740 new COVID-19 cases Thursday, bringing the total to 1,193,260 since the pandemic began nearly a year ago. The state health department also announced 42 additional deaths making a new total of 20,668 deaths.

Also within the past 24 hours, laboratories have reported 73,990 new tests have been administered for a total of 18,389,512.

As of Wednesday, when the latest data was available, 1,200 people in Illinois were reported to be in the hospital with COVID-19. Of those, 260 patients were in the ICU, and 128 patients with COVID-19 were on ventilators.

The preliminary seven-day statewide positivity for cases as a percent of total tests from Feb. 25-March 3 again stood at 2.4%, the same as Wednesday.

Thursday’s breakdown for Region 4

New cases: 107 (-18)

New deaths: 1 (-4) (Monroe County reported 1 new death.)

Total vaccine doses administered (as of Wednesday): 159,385 (+3,442)

Daily positivity rate (as of Monday): 6.0% (+2.3)

7-day average positivity rate (as of Monday): 4.0% (no change)

Regional hospitalizations: 73 (no change) (provided by St. Clair County)

Regional patients on ventilators: 2 (-1) (provided by St. Clair County)

ICU bed availability (as of Wednesday): 32% (+0.1)

ST. CLAIR COUNTY

Thursday’s new data: 49 new positives, 0 new deaths, 891 new tests administered, 38 new recoveries 3 fewer patients hospitalized, 1 fewer patient on a ventilator

Total overall: 28,214 positives, 453 deaths, 289,179 tests administered, 27,211 recoveries, 40 patients hospitalized with 1 patient on a ventilator.

Vaccines administered: 1,171 doses Wednesday, bringing the total to 66,156

% of population fully vaccinated: 6.73%

Additional data: People who tested positive ranged from under the age of 1 to their 70s. Of the 49 new positives, 28 were under the age of 40.

Congregate living facilities: The Colonnade Senior Living in O’Fallon reported 1 new case and Knollwood Retirement Center in Caseyville reported 1 new case.

Positivity rates (as of Monday): Daily — 6.9% (+3.7); 7-day average — 4.0% (-1.8)

MADISON COUNTY

Thursday’s new data: 46 new positives, 0 new deaths, 1,096 new tests administered, 302 new recoveries, 1 additional patient hospitalized

Total overall: 27,686 positives, 461 deaths, 264,707 tests administered, 26,184 recoveries, 24 patients hospitalized with 1 patient on a ventilator

Vaccines administered: 1,290 doses Wednesday, bringing the total to 58,462

Additional data: People who tested positive ranged from under the age of 10 to their 80s. Of the 46 new positives, 29 were under the age of 40.

% of population fully vaccinated: 4.85%

Positivity rates (as of Monday): Daily — 6.2% (-0.8); 7-day average — 6.0% (+0.1)

CLINTON COUNTY

Thursday’s new data: 1 new positive, 6 new recoveries

Total overall: 5,579 positives, 89 deaths, 5,455 recoveries, 2 patients hospitalized

Vaccines administered: 345 doses Wednesday, bringing the total to 10,476

% of population fully vaccinated: 9.54%

Positivity rates (as of Monday): Daily — 3.8% (+3.8); 7-day average — 1.5% (no change)

RANDOLPH COUNTY

Thursday’s new data: 4 new positives, 9 new recoveries

Total overall: 3,995 positives, 82 deaths, 3,893 recoveries, 2 patients hospitalized

Vaccines administered: 332 doses Wednesday, bringing the total to 8,256

% of population fully vaccinated: 9.28%

Positivity rates (as of Monday): Daily — 1.6% (+0.9); 7-day average — 1.2% (-0.1)

MONROE COUNTY

Thursday’s new data: 7 new positives, 1 new death

Total overall: 4,106 positives, 94 deaths, 11 patients hospitalized

Vaccines administered: 355 doses Wednesday, bringing the total to 8,572

% of population fully vaccinated: 7.12%

Positivity rates (as of Monday): Daily — 1.4% (-5.5); 7-day average — 2.8% (-0.7)

BOND COUNTY

Thursday’s new data: No new data

Total overall: 2,072 positives, 21 deaths, 45,561 tests administered

Vaccines administered: 248 doses Wednesday, bringing the total to 4,046

% of population fully vaccinated: 8.27%

Positivity rates (as of Monday): Daily — 1.8% (-4.5); 7-day average — 1.3% (-0.2)

WASHINGTON COUNTY

Thursday’s new data: No new data

Total overall: 1,595 positives, 27 deaths, 1,568 recoveries

Vaccines administered: 102 doses Wednesday, bringing the total to 3,417

% of population fully vaccinated: 6.51%

Positivity rates (as of Monday): Daily — 10.3% (+2.6); 7-day average — 6.0% (+0.2)

Editor’s note: The number of new COVID-19 cases by ZIP code in each county is reported on Mondays and shows the increase for the past week. Information comes from county sources and the Illinois Department of Public Health website.

Illinois reports new COVID cases, deaths Thursday

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 of COVID-19: 1,740 (-364)

New deaths: 42 (-2)

New COVID-19 tests: 73,990 (-6,864)

Total cases: 1,193,260

Total deaths: 20,668

Total tests: 18,389,512

Total Illinoisans fully vaccinated against COVID-19: 952,141 (+45,651) — or 7.47% of the population

Total vaccine doses administered: 2,993,543 (+93,202)

Hospitalizations: 1,200 (-60)

People in ICU: 260 (-15)

People on ventilators: 128 (-10)

Statewide positivity rate (from Feb. 25-March 3): 2.4% (no change)

Nation, world COVID-19 statistics

Here are the latest available statistics from the Johns Hopkins University’s coronavirus map and Worldometer as of Thursday afternoon:

• U.S.: 29,456,377 cases, 531,652 deaths, 20,003,325 recoveries
  
  
• World: 115,779,644 cases, 2,571,994 deaths, 91,483,192 recoveries
  
  

Testing sites in southwestern Illinois

Here are some upcoming coronavirus testing options:

• Every Tuesday and Thursday: 9-11 a.m. COVID-19 rapid testing at the Clinton County Fairgrounds, 1899 Methodist St., Carlyle.
  
  

The Illinois Department of Public Health will continue to deploy mobile testing teams to locations in East St. Louis, including 4601 State St., 8 a.m.-to 4 p.m. every Sunday and Monday. Capacity is limited, and hours of operation are subject to change based on available equipment.

The testing site at the Jackie Joyner-Kersee Center in East St. Louis has been moved to St. Clair Square mall, in the parking lot behind Dillards. It’s open 8 a.m.-4 p.m. daily. It’s a drive-thru with four tents, allowing people to stay in their cars.

St. Clair County has a service center at 330 W. Main St. in Belleville. Its regular hours are 8 a.m.-4 p.m. Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays; 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Thursdays; and 7 a.m.-3 p.m. Fridays.

Touchette Regional Hospital and Southern Illinois Healthcare Foundation also offer daily testing in Wood River. Call 618-646-2596 for an appointment.

COVID-19 definition key

• Region 4: The state-defined metro-east region includes St. Clair, Madison, Clinton, Monroe, Randolph, Bond and Washington counties.
• Daily positivity rate: The percentage of tests performed in a single day that were positive for COVID-19. Source: dph.illinois.gov/regionmetrics
• 7-day average positivity rate: The number of positive tests in a week, divided by the total number of tests performed during the same period. It is one measure Illinois uses to determine whether restrictions should be strengthened or loosened because it gives an indication of the infection rate in a community. The state-defined target is 8% or less. Source: dph.illinois.gov/regionmetrics
• Hospitalizations: The number of patients in the hospital who have COVID-19 or are suspected of having the disease.
• ICU bed availability: The number of staffed intensive-care unit beds that are empty over seven days, divided by the total number of beds in the region. It is another measure the state uses to make decisions about restrictions. The state-defined target is 20% or more. Source: dph.illinois.gov/regionmetrics
• Vaccine doses administered: The number of shots provided to individuals. Authorized COVID-19 vaccines require two shots. Source: dph.illinois.gov/covid19/vaccinedata
• % of population vaccinated: The number of county residents who have received both shots of an authorized COVID-19 vaccine, divided by the county’s total population. Source: dph.illinois.gov/covid19/vaccinedata

This story was originally published March 4, 2021 at 12:44 PM.