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Pritzker to make people with chronic conditions, disabled eligible for COVID-19 vaccine

The State Journal-Register - 2/10/2021

Feb. 11—The types of people allowed to receive COVID-19 vaccine in Illinois will expand significantly in two weeks after Gov. JB Pritzker said Wednesday that people 16 through 64 with chronic health conditions and disabilities will be added to those eligible.

The health conditions to which the governor referred, as defined by federal health authorities, include cancer survivors and those with chronic kidney disease, diabetes, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, obesity and heart conditions.

But whether Pritzker's addition of at least 2.8 million people to the 3.9 million already eligible for COVID-19 shots will speed or slow the vaccination process amid short supplies remains uncertain.

The governor said at a news conference in Quincy that increasing numbers of vaccine doses expected in the coming weeks, along with advice from federal health officials, prompted him to expand those eligible in the state's 1B vaccination priority category effective Feb. 25.

"I wish I could make enough vaccine magically appear so that we could get all of our Illinoisans vaccinated right now," Pritzker said. "That will happen over the next couple months."

The Democratic governor's office issued a news release that said the administration of President Joe Biden has increased the vaccine supply by almost 30%, including a 5% increase this week.

Moreover, Prizker's office said the federal Food and Drug Administration soon will consider for approval a third type of COVID-19 vaccine — this one manufactured by Johnson & Johnson and requiring only one dose — that could result in 100 million more doses for the United States by late June.

The Moderna and Pfizer/BioNTech vaccines are in use now, and both require two doses over a several-week period for maximum effectiveness.

"As quickly as we receive enough vaccine supply, we need to waste no time in protecting a broader section of our most vulnerable population," Pritzker said. "Those who are under 65 and live with comorbidities, such as cancer survivors or those living with heart disease, have an elevated risk of serious complications or death if they contract COVID-19."

Illinois Senate Minority Leader Dan McConchie, R-Hawthorn Woods, said he was pleased to hear Pritzker's announcement. "While the state should have provided some method from the very beginning for those whose doctors have been insisting that their patient's life or health depends on being vaccinated, as has been the case in other states, there is now a light at the end of a very long tunnel for those in greatest need."

Gail O'Neill, director of the Sangamon County Department of Public Health, said Wednesday that she learned about the governor's decision to expand eligibility through media reports.

She said the expansion is "a good thing if there's enough vaccine."

With limited supplies, the county health department has filled COVID-19 vaccine appointments at its drive-through site on Springfield's east side through mid-March. People who received those appointments had to be 85 and older or 65 and older if they were accompanying patients who were 85 and older.

The department is working with HSHS St. John's Hospital, Memorial Health System, Springfield Clinic and Southern Illinois University School of Medicine to prepare for vaccination clinics for the general public in the 1B category, O'Neill said. The four entities have been offering limited numbers of vaccinations for their own patients up to now.

O'Neill she said she hopes that the new clinics for the general public in the 1B category can begin in the "next week or two." A system for making appointments hasn't been finalized but will be announced by the health department soon, she said.

It's unclear how health officials administering vaccines to people in the expanded 1B category will verify whether a vaccine recipient has a chronic condition or whether the honor system will be used, O'Neill said.

The current 1B category includes people 65 and older, first responders and "front-line essential workers" such as teachers and grocery store and transit workers. The first category of people who became eligible, in the 1A phase, included health care workers and residents and staff in nursing homes and other long-term care facilities.

Memorial spokeswoman Angie Muhs said Memorial officials have contacted Memorial patients "to identify and prioritize those in phase 1B whose age and health conditions put them most at risk, and have contacted more than 5,000 people to offer them an appointment."

She added: "We will continue to work with the state and the county to vaccinate the phase 1B population as we receive adequate supplies of the vaccines."

St. John's spokeswoman Erica Johnson said, "As more COVID-19 vaccine becomes available and the groups of eligible vaccine recipients expand, HSHS St. John's Hospital will continue to coordinate with the county and state public health departments to help vaccinate the 1A and 1B groups that includes essential front-line workers in the global distribution process."

Pritzker said people can use a state website, coronavirus.illinois.gov, to find local health departments, pharmacies and other sites providing vaccines, but short supplies have led to frustration among those seeking appointments.

The governor said that to date, Illinois has used more than 78% of its vaccine on hand, separate from the federal government's vaccination program in long-term care facilities and the city of Chicago's own vaccination program.

The entire vaccination effort statewide has delivered 1.5 million shots, including 1.15 million first doses of vaccines that require two doses, Pritzker said.

The state on Wednesday reported 2,825 new COVID-19 cases and 53 additional deaths. Illinois' seven-day COVID-19 test positivity rate is 4%.

Two new deaths of Sangamon County residents with COVID-19 were reported. One was a man in his 50s who tested positive for the disease on Feb. 9. A woman in her 70s who died tested positive for COVID-19 on Nov. 10, according to the county health department.

Seventeen Sangamon County residents with COVID-19 remained hospitalized.

In Menard County, six new COVID-10 cases were reported and no new deaths. Three people with COVID-19 remained hospitalized.

Contact Dean Olsen: dolsen@gannett.com; (217) 836-1068; twitter.com/DeanOlsenSJR

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