To:

Chemical Industry Council of Illinois (CICI) Members

From:

Mark Biel, Chief Executive Officer
[email protected] or 217/522-5805 

Re:

Coronavirus (COVID-19) Update – J&J Vaccine Rollout Begins; United Center Mass Vaccination Site Up Next Week; Update on Phase 1B Vaccinations; ACC Tracker with State Vaccine Updates & COVID-19 Orders; Canada COVID-19 Information; Update on COVID-19 Cases  

J&J Vaccine Rollout Begins: Following the FDA and CDC’s approval last week of Johnson & Johnson’s new COVID-19 vaccination, nearly 4 million doses have been shipped this week. This vaccine is the third vaccine to receive authorization, but also the first single-dose vaccine and one that does not require ultracold storage.     

Illinois is earmarked to receive 83,000 doses today.  90% of the J&J vaccine will be distributed to mass vaccination sites throughout the state, with the remaining doses shipped to other providers across the state.  These doses are in addition to the approximate 288,000 doses the federal government allocated to Illinois this week. This total does not include doses for the city of Chicago, which will receive its own allocation.

CNBC was reporting yesterday that based on current projections, the supply of COVID-19 vaccines should exceed demand for the vaccine by the end of April/early May.

United Center Mass Vaccination Site Up Next Week: Beginning next week, March 10, the United Center in Chicago is being set up as a mass vaccination site by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) with support from the Department of Defense, the city of Chicago and Cook County.  According to press reports, FEMA is also sending $115 million and 200 federal personnel to support the operation.  Once up and running, the site will have the capability to deliver up to 6,000 shots a day in addition to the state’s regular allotment from the federal government.

This mass vaccination site will operate seven days a week for eight weeks and will be open to all residents of the state, but it will prioritize seniors and medically underserved communities that are the most vulnerable to the virus in accordance with Phase 1B protocols.

Update on Phase 1B Vaccinations: To date, 3,392,925 vaccine doses have been delivered to providers in Illinois, including Chicago. In addition, 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 3,836,625. A total of 2,900,341 vaccines have been administered in Illinois as of last midnight, including 328,795 for long-term care facilities. The 7-day rolling average of vaccines administered daily is 84,202 doses. Yesterday, 82,449 doses were administered in Illinois.  And with the new J&J vaccine arriving in the state this week, we expect these numbers to quickly rise.

Also, as a reminder, the state has updated its COVID-19 website containing current locations and other pertinent information on one webpage.

ACC Tracker with State Vaccine Updates & COVID-19 Orders:  The American Chemistry Council (ACC) has again updated its comprehensive COVID-19 Tracker (attached to this Update) with separate charts illustrating state vaccine plans, including documents detailing updated state specific orders and mitigation measures as well as executive orders and legislation relating to business liability. 

Canada COVID-19 Information: For those members who would like to receive information about vaccination protocols and COVID-19 restrictions in Canada, please reach out to Mark Biel at [email protected] to be added to the distribution list. Our friends at the Chemistry Industry Association of Canada have been kind enough to share their COVID-19 information with us.

Update on COVID-19 Cases: IDPH is reporting 1,191,520 positive tests of COVID-19 in Illinois, an average increase of 1,739 new positive tests per day since reported here 7 days ago on February 24.  In total, 18,314,522 tests have now been conducted in Illinois for the virus, an average increase of 72,855 tests per day since February 24. 

The state’s average positivity rate over all 11 regions is at 2.3% for the last 7 days.  You can see where the various regions are at in terms of their positivity rates, hospitalizations, and other metrics at this link

Unfortunately, IDPH is reporting a total of 20,626 deaths, an average increase of 36 per day since February 24.

You can also check where these cases are occurring at the State of Illinois COVID-19 website which also contains more information on this outbreak.

Also, IDPH has a case breakdown of the number of positive cases in Chicago and each county relative to the number of fatalities.  The IDPH website also now includes a breakdown of the cases under each zip code in the state.

For information on other states and countries, John Hopkins University has developed this website that provides invaluable resources at a one-stop location detailing testing and tracing trends, timelines of COVID-19 policies, and interactive maps.

 

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