Top IL health official says COVID-19 politics, misinformation are harming people

Dr. Ngozi Ezike, director of the Illinois Department of Public Health, called what she described as the politicization of masks and vaccines “heartbreaking” during a recent virtual town hall discussion.

The town hall — themed as an update on “the current state of the pandemic in the Region 4 area” — lasted about an hour on Thursday night. Ezike addressed several COVID-related topics in a question and answer format during the session. Attendees were required to submit their questions and then a moderator picked and chose which ones Ezike answered.

“I am heartbroken that we have made people’s health a political football. I don’t even understand what people gain by telling people a mask, which saves lives every day in the hospital, or a vaccine that has saved so many lives that people around the world in poor countries are begging to get and we have it available everywhere ... the people who are spreading the misinformation, I don’t know what they get by harming peoples’ health,” she said.

“But the bottom line is, as a physician and a public health leader myself, these people have done tremendous harm. They have made decisions that will harm the health of people. I don’t know why everything has gotten political these days. Someone is making politics into a sport that’s costing lives. The virus is not political. It doesn’t care who you voted for.”

She continued, asking hesitant people to discuss vaccination with their doctors.

“Why did 95% of doctors get the vaccine? I think doctors are trusted individuals in society. Talk to your doctor for why they got the vaccine and why you should,” she said.

As cases continue to rise in Illinois and Region 4 — which includes Bond, Clinton, Madison, Monroe, Randolph, St. Clair and Washington counties — Ezike also addressed the potential return of mitigations.

“Nobody benefits from these lockdowns,” she said. “It’s a very severe measure that when you have no tools left in your arsenal and when the tools we do have are not being used ... we need people to take advantage of the vaccine. We can control this virus. I really want us to focus on what each of us individually can do more than what the governor or the state might do because, individually, we’re not doing what we need to do.”

Staying with the town hall’s theme, Ezike singled out Region 4 for rising positivity rates multiple times during the hour-long event.

According to Illinois Department of Public Health data released Friday, five Region 4 counties have a seven-day positivity rate above 10% — Clinton, 10.6%; Madison, 11.4%; Monroe, 10.1%; St. Clair, 10.5%; and Washington, 14.3%. Meanwhile, Region 4 as a whole had a 10.4% positivity rate and has been at or above 10% since July 29.

“We are at scary times in the metro-east area with positivity rates of 9-10%. That’s concerning,” she said. “Once the number gets that high, it continues to grow. This will be a problem for unvaccinated people. If you are over 12 and unvaccinated, you are at high risk for catching this virus. Continuing to be unprotected in this day and age when there is something to protect you and keep you out of the hospital, I don’t think is the right choice.”

For state numbers, the state health department on Friday reported 16,742 new cases from July 30-Aug. 6, including 64 new deaths. Overall, Illinois has recorded 1,463,353 COVID-19 cases since the pandemic began and 23,503 deaths. The statewide positivity rate as of Friday stood at 4.6%.

For hospital totals, as of Thursday night, the department reported 200 people in Illinois were in the hospital with COVID-19. Of those, 246 patients were in the ICU and 121 patients with COVID-19 were on ventilators. COVID-19 hospitalizations are up 33% from what was reported the previous week, those in the ICU with COVID-19 are up 47%, and patients on ventilators almost doubled in just one week at 95%, according to the state’s data.

Vaccination figures for Region 4

Regarding vaccines, the state health department reported Friday more than 75% of Illinois adults have received at least one dose of the vaccine and that 59% have been fully vaccinated (more than 6.5 million individuals). For Region 4, here are the latest vaccination numbers:

• Bond County: 5,947 people have been fully vaccinated, or 35.76% of the entire population.
• Clinton County: 16,566 people have been fully vaccinated, or 44.01% of the entire population.
• Madison County: 118,307 people have been fully vaccinated, or 44.74 of the entire population.
• Monroe County: 16,561 people have been fully vaccinated, or 48.23% of the entire population.
• Randolph County: 12,175 people have been fully vaccinated, or 37.92% of the entire population.
• St. Clair County: 111,784 people have been fully vaccinated, or 42.82% of the entire population.
• Washington County: 6,027 people have been fully vaccinated, or 43.07% of the entire population.

In total, 287,367 metro-east residents have been fully vaccinated out of the estimated 660,225 who live in the region, or about 43.5%. That’s an increase of 1,195 people from just Wednesday.

“We have to get more people to get this important shot,” Ezike said. “Our whole community needs everyone to participate in this. If we want our schools to be safer, if we want our long-term care facilities to be safer, if we want our churches to be safer, then everybody has to take part in this.”

Ezike even recommended for vaccinated people to offer to take friends or family member still unsure of getting vaccinated directly to the pharmacy.

“If they have questions you can’t answer ... the pharmacist can answer their questions. We have to get more people to get this important shot. Tell them you’re too important to me not to be protected,” she said.

Ezike also recommended people who have had the virus to get vaccinated, “to have the fullest protection.”

Official FDA approval coming soon?

Ezike also addressed concerns over why the Food and Drug Administration has not officially approved the COVID vaccine. She said the vaccine went through all the normal, rigorous processes and that she hopes official FDA approval happens soon.

“With all the people dying from COVID it was not acceptable to wait for the one-two year process when they saw the vaccine worked,” she said. “Getting the emergency use authorization has made that number of deaths so much less than if we waited for full FDA approval and did not use the vaccine until now ... the death toll would be in the millions.

“It did allow for trials where there were volunteer participants who received the vaccine. They were watched for months to make sure there were not severe side effects. They were watched to make sure the vaccine prevented COVID. I’m just glad they did not wait because so many people who have become vaccinated might have caught the virus and spread it or died from it.”

Moving forward, Ezike offered the following advice.

“The three most important things we can do are get vaccinated, get vaccinated, get vaccinated. After that, masking is something that is very important. In addition to masking, getting tested,” she said. “Let’s just take advantage of some of the tools we have.”