Midwest Communications
PEORIA, Ill. The tri-county of Peoria, Tazewell, and Woodford between Tuesday and Wednesday added four deaths related to COVID-19 to its totals.
A woman from Peoria in her 40s died, and was not reported by the Peoria City/County Health Department to have had any comorbidities. A man in his 50s and a woman in her 70s who died were reported as having had underlying health problems
A Tazewell woman in her 60s also died.
131 people during the reporting period tested positive. 61 of them live in Peoria, 47 reside in Tazewell, and 23 are from Woodford.
Hospitalizations for a second straight day decreased. 133 people as of Wednesday afternoon were in hospital beds, of whom 28 were intensive care-level.
PEORIA Tri-County Area health officials are increasingly focusing their efforts on getting younger residents vaccinated as the average age of COVID-19 patients continues to drop.
“The 23 deaths in the Peoria area this week included two Tri-County residents in their 30s. Likewise, in our hospitalizations right now for Peoria County, two-thirds of our hospitalized patients are under the age of 70, with 25% of them under the age of 50,” said Monica Hendrickson, administrator of the Peoria City/County Health Department, during the weekly press briefing Thursday afternoon.
There is some good news, however. Hospitalizations are down about one-quarter over the last two weeks from 174 to 133. And the rolling positivity average has dropped about one-third in the last week, from 10.4% to 6.9% in Peoria County, and from 9.5% to 6.1% in Tazewell County.
Dalton Kemper/1470-100.3 WMBD
PEORIA, Ill. The use of the Johnson & Johnson (J&J) COVID-19 vaccine was paused due to a rare clotting disorder found in women who received the shot, but was recently given clearance to resume by the CDC.
Local health experts at the Peoria City/County Health Department reminded area residents of the safety of the vaccine.
Assistant Professor at the University of Illinois College of Medicine Dr. Abeer AlMajali says the disorder remains extremely rare.
“Right now we know that there are 15 cases out of the 8 million vaccines administered all over the U.S.,” said AlMajali. “It was picked up because of our very strict safety monitoring.”
By the end of the day, 99 students had been vaccinated for COVID-19.
“I found out about the vaccination clinic a week ago, and I pretty much jumped on the opportunity right away,” said Elizabeth McDonald, 16, while waiting for her turn at one of the four vaccination stations set up in the school’s library. “I m getting my vaccine just because I want to get back to normal. I want to be able to see my family and friends more.”
Brant Adreon, 16, expressed similar sentiments.
“I run cross country, and the meets were definitely a little smaller. They went from at least 50-team meets to like five. It was disappointing; the competitiveness has definitely gone down. And obviously the running with the masks, well, it’s difficult, he said.