Coronavirus in Illinois updates: Here’s what’s happening Monday with COVID-19 in the Chicago area

Beginning Monday, higher education staff, government employees and members of the media will be eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine as the state expands COVID-19 vaccine eligibility to additional groups of essential workers as part of phase 1c of the state’s vaccine plan. Food and beverage workers, construction trade workers and religious leaders will be eligible one week later, on March 29.

Also Monday, suburban Cook County will join the rest of the state outside Chicago in making people over 16 with various health conditions eligible for a vaccine. Chicago expects to add a similar eligibility on March 29.

Meanwhile, Illinois public health officials on Sunday reported 1,431 new confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 and 22 additional deaths. That brings the state’s totals since the pandemic began to 1,221,863 cases and 21,081 deaths.

The state reported 75,380 doses administered on Saturday and the seven-day rolling average of doses administered daily is 95,171 doses.

Illinois COVID-19 vaccine tracker: Here’s where the state stands

COVID-19 in Illinois by the numbers: Here’s a daily update on key metrics in your area

Illinois coronavirus graphs: The latest data on deaths, confirmed cases, tests and more

COVID-19 cases in Illinois by ZIP code: Search for your neighborhood

Tracking COVID-19 in CPS: Look up your school

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Here’s what’s happening Monday with COVID-19 in the Chicago area:

7 a.m. Pritzker, Preckwinkle to join National Guard and legislators for mass vaccination news conference

Gov. J.B. Pritzker, Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle and legislators were scheduled Monday morning to join members of the Illinois National Guard at a site in Forest Park to discuss mass vaccinations.

The event was scheduled to discuss the expansion of mass-vaccination sites supported by the state, according to Preckwinkle’s office. Further details weren’t immediately released.

Check back for updates. — Chicago Tribune staff

6 a.m.: A year after his coronavirus shutdown, Gov. J.B. Pritkzer will continue to face questions over the ‘signature issue’ of his first term

Gov. J.B. Pritzker entered his second year in office in 2020 with a list of successes any Democrat eyeing another term in a deep-blue state would be thrilled to tout:

The first statewide infrastructure plan in a decade, a minimum wage hike set to hit $15 per hour in 2025, legal recreational marijuana, and even a bipartisan budget that Wall Street ratings agencies gave fair marks for taking small steps toward addressing some of the state’s chronic financial problems.

Then came the coronavirus.

As the pandemic took hold in Illinois last spring, the rookie governor won praise from officials on both sides of the aisle as well as political observers and public health experts for his decisive early steps to slow the spread of the deadly disease. Most notably, he issued an unprecedented statewide stay-at-home order that went into effect one year ago Sunday.

In the months since, however, Pritzker has had to fend off a barrage of criticism from industry leaders and lawmakers — Republicans and some fellow Democrats — over his evolving plans for reopening segments of the economy as state weathered two waves of the pandemic.

The 2022 election is still more than a year away, and Pritzker on Thursday laid out a new path to normal for Illinois as more residents are vaccinated against the coronavirus.

But the lasting impacts of the pandemic on voters’ lives and the state government are sure to be central themes of next year’s race for governor.

Read more here. —Dan Petrella, Rick Pearson

6 a.m.: Pandemic batters middle school sports association in Illinois; no state tournaments means no revenue, $1.5 million budget hole

The basketball game had all the trappings of a state championship: two teams battling in a noisy downstate gym, both hungry to better their prior seasons when they came oh-so-close to winning it all.

It wasn’t a title game, though — just the last game of a season condensed by the pandemic. And that was bad news for the Illinois Elementary School Association.

The organization is the equivalent of the Illinois High School Association for middle school sports and activities, putting on state tournaments for everything from cross-country to chess. Its $1.6 million budget is funded primarily from selling tickets to those events, but since COVID-19 arrived last year, there have been no events to attend.

That has put the group in a $1.5 million hole, Executive Director Steve Endsley said (the IHSA, meanwhile, projects a $1.4 million deficit). The organization has tried to raise money through a GoFundMe, bringing in nearly $40,000 of a $500,000 goal, but otherwise, he’s not sure when it will be able to pull itself out.

Read more here. —John Keilman

5 a.m.: AstraZeneca says COVID-19 vaccine 79% effective in US study

AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine provided strong protection against disease and complete protection against hospitalization and death across all age groups in a late-stage U.S. study, the company announced Monday.

AstraZeneca said its experts also identified no safety concerns related to the vaccine, including a rare blood clot that was identified in Europe. Scientists found no increased risk of clots among the more than 20,000 people who got at least one dose of the AstraZeneca shot.

Although AstraZeneca’s vaccine has been authorized in more than 50 countries, it has not yet been given the green light in the U.S. The U.S. study comprised more than 30,000 volunteers, of whom two-thirds were given the vaccine while the rest got dummy shots.

In a statement, AstraZeneca said its COVID-19 vaccine had a 79% efficacy rate at preventing symptomatic COVID and was 100% effective in stopping severe disease and hospitalization. Investigators said the vaccine was effective across all ages, including older people — which previous studies in other countries had failed to establish.

Read more here. —Associated Press

In case you missed it

Here are some recent stories related to COVID-19.

Who’s ahead in the Illinois vaccine race? Data shows downstate counties outpacing Chicago area.

All CPS families are getting $450 pandemic food benefit cards. Some who don’t need the help are trying to pay it forward.

Did you get COVID-19 vaccine envy as other states expanded eligibility quicker? Medical experts say widening criteria isn’t automatically the solution.

For some, the COVID-19 vaccine is a ticket to travel. Many people are still planning carefully.

University of Chicago Medicine’s Dr. Emily Landon to answer reader questions about COVID-19 vaccinations Tuesday on Facebook Live