Southwestern Illinois county offers to vaccinate 600 people 85 and older for COVID

The vast majority of questions submitted to officials during the weekly Q&A session of St. Clair County Emergency Management Agency on Sunday related to COVID vaccines.

Mainly, people want to know when, where and how they can get vaccinated.

Officials noted that many Illinois counties are still limiting distribution to people eligible under Phase 1A, including health-care providers and residents and staff at nursing homes and other long-term care facilities.

“We’re not through category 1A yet, so all of our vaccine is still going for the hospital workers, the frontline workers,” said Mark Kern, St. Clair County Board chairman. “That’s part of the (Centers for Disease Control) requirements.”

But Monroe County, a largely rural county with no major medical facilities, had doses left over from its state-allocated supply after completing Phase 1A. It’s moving into Phase 1B, which expands eligibility to include people 65 and older, first responders, grocery store and public-transit employees, teachers and other “frontline essential workers.”

Monroe County Health Department is starting the phase by offering to vaccinate 600 people age 85 and older from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Monday at Monroe County Fairgrounds in Waterloo. Adams County is sponsoring a similar clinic.

“If you go on the Illinois Department of Health website, you can sign up, get a ticket,” Kern said during the live-streamed Facebook briefing late Sunday afternoon.

“I think they have enough doses for 600 people tomorrow. They’ve already been through about half of the sign-ups, so there’s about 300 left as we’re talking live right now. I’m sure that will go down as people know this is available.”

Illinois residents don’t have to be vaccinated in their home counties, according to Sam Bierman, emergency response coordinator for St. Clair County Health Department.

Those 85 and older who want to sign up for the Monroe County vaccination clinic on Monday can do so at covidvaccination.dph.illinois.gov. For more information, visit the Monroe County Health Department website.

Other Illinois counties will come up with their own plans for distributing COVID vaccines during Phases 1B and 1C. St. Clair County Health Department expects to operate two main clinics and possibly mobile units, depending on supplies.

Bierman encourages all Illinois residents to keep their eyes and ears open in the coming weeks and months for information on where and when vaccinations will be offered to people in different age groups, occupations and other circumstances.

One viewer of Sunday’s briefing asked St. Clair County officials when they expect to move into Phase 1C, which will expand eligibility to the general public. Bierman said it will depend on level and timing of supply allocations from the state.

“I can assure you we will work as quickly as we can to get through 1A and 1B to get to the 1C category,” she said.

Illinois reports new cases, deaths Sunday

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: 4,162 (-1,181)

New deaths: 29 (-101)

New tests: 96,845 (-5,467)

Total cases: 1,068,829

Total deaths: 18,208

Total vaccines administered: 487,040 (+15,883)

Total tests: 14,763,993

Hospitalizations: 3,406 (-40)

People in ICU: 720 (+9)

People on ventilators: 387 (+8)

Statewide positivity rate (from Jan. 10-16): 6.1% (-0.2%)

Sunday’s breakdown for Region 4

New cases: 183 new cases (only St. Clair and Monroe counties reporting)

New deaths): 1 (only St. Clair and Monroe counties reporting)

Total vaccines administered: 19,444 (+448)

Daily positivity rate (as of Thursday): 8.2% (-1%)

Seven-day rolling average positivity rate (as of Thursday): 9.2% (-0.6%)

Regional hospitalizations: 175 (-2) (provided by St. Clair County)

Regional patients on ventilators: 16 (-1) (provided by St. Clair County)

Hospital bed availability (as of Saturday): 14% (+1%)

ICU bed availability: 18% (-0.3%)

New cases from nearby counties outside Region 4: No new data

New deaths from nearby counties outside Region 4: No new data

ST. CLAIR COUNTY

Sunday’s new data: 139 new positives, 1 new death, 1,674 new tests administered, 313 new recoveries, 3 more hospitalized, 1 more on ventilator

Total overall: 24,314 positives, 376 deaths, 235,156 tests administered, 22,007 recoveries, 100 hospitalized with 12 on ventilators

Vaccines administered: 193 doses since Saturday, bringing total to 6,732

Additional data: Person who died was a male in his 60s with unknown health conditions

Congregate living facilities: No new data

Positivity rates (as of Thursday): Daily — 6.1% (-1.6); 7-day average — 7.9% (-0.9)

MADISON COUNTY

Sunday’s new data: No new data as of 4:30 p.m.

Total overall (as of Saturday): 23,563 positives, 403 deaths, 215,369 tests administered, 14,320 recoveries, 57 patients hospitalized with 7 patients on ventilators

Vaccines administered: 184 doses since Saturday, bringing total to 7,260

Additional data: No new data

Positivity rates (as of Thursday): Daily — 10.9% (no change); 7-day average — 10.5% (-0.4)

CLINTON COUNTY

Sunday’s new data: No new data

Total overall (as if Friday): 4,910 positives, 77 deaths, 4,524 recoveries, 4 patients hospitalized

Vaccines administered: 56 doses since Saturday, bringing total to 2,128

Positivity rates (as of Thursday): Daily — 4.7% (+10.2); 7-day average — 10% (+1.6)

RANDOLPH COUNTY

Sunday’s new data: No new data

Total overall (as of Friday): 3,709 positives, 66 deaths, 3,449 recoveries

Vaccines administered: 26 doses since Saturday, bringing total to 1,367

Positivity rates (as of Thursday): Daily — 7.1% (-0.7); 7-day average — 9% (-0.5%)

MONROE COUNTY

Sunday’s new data: 44 new positives, no new deaths

Total overall: 3,578 positives, 69 deaths, 29 patients hospitalized

Vaccines administered: 3 doses since Saturday, bringing total to 988

Positivity rates (as of Thursday): Daily — 6.6% (-6%); 7-day average — 9.6% (-1.2)

BOND COUNTY

Sunday’s new data: No new data

Total overall (as of Saturday): 1,854 positives, 18 deaths, 35,835 tests administered

Vaccines administered: 7 doses since Saturday, bringing total to 502

Positivity rates (as of Thursday): Daily — 9.9% (-3.3); 7-day average — 6% (-7.2%)

WASHINGTON COUNTY

Sunday’s new data: No new data

Total overall (as of Saturday): 1,446 positives, 23 deaths, 1,347 recoveries, 4 patients hospitalized

Vaccines administered: 5 doses since Saturday, bringing total to 464

Positivity rates (as of Thursday): Daily — 14.6% (-4.2); 7-day average — 16.2% (-1%)

MACOUPIN COUNTY

Sunday’s new data: No new data

Total overall (as of Friday): 3,934 positives, 94 deaths, 2,550 recoveries

Vaccines administered: 627 doses since Saturday, bringing total to 2,471

Positivity rates (as of Thursday): Daily — 8.5% (-0.9%); 7-day average — 8.1% (-0.1%)

JERSEY COUNTY

Sunday’s new data: No new data

Total overall (as of Friday): 2,137 positives, 37 deaths, 20,768 tests administered, 2,031 recoveries

Vaccines administered: 38 doses since Saturday, bringing total to 930

Positivity rates (as of Thursday): Daily — 6.3% (+0.2%); 7-day average — 6.6% (+0.1%)

PERRY COUNTY

Sunday’s new data: No new data

Total overall (as of Friday): 2,702 positives, 52 deaths, 2,319 recoveries

Vaccines administered: 57 doses since Saturday, bringing total to 856

Positivity rates (as of Thursday): Daily — 7.2% (+1.4%); 7-day average — 6% (+0.4%)

CALHOUN COUNTY

Sunday’s new data: No new data

Total overall (as of Friday): 449 positives, 4 deaths, 415 recoveries

Vaccines administered: 3 doses since Saturday, bringing total to 250

Positivity rates (as of Thursday): Daily — 16.7% (no change); 7-day average — 10.8% (-2.8%)

Editor’s note: The number of new COVID-19 cases for ZIP codes in each county is reported on Mondays and shows the cumulative increase for the past week. 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, Worldometer coronavirus map and Johns Hopkins University’s coronavirus map as of Sunday afternoon.

• Illinois: 1,068,829 cases, 18,208 deaths, 14,763,993 tests
  
  
• U.S.: 23,844,928 cases, 396,682 deaths
  
  
• World: 94,786,639 cases, 2,026,792 deaths
  
  

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
  
  
• Monday, Jan. 18: 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Southwestern Illinois College in Belleville
• Tuesday, Jan. 19: 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Southwestern Illinois College in Belleville
• Tuesday, Jan. 19: 9 a.m. to noon at Calvary Baptist Church in Alton

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 from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily. It’s a drive-thru with four tents, allowing people to stay in their cars.

The Illinois Department of Public Health will continue to deploy mobile testing teams to locations in East St. Louis, including 4601 State St., from 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.

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

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

This story was originally published January 17, 2021 at 8:29 PM.