Screenshot from video provided by Gov. J.B. Pritzker s office
The same day the first employees at Memorial Health System hospitals in central Illinois were getting vaccinated against the coronavirus, an internal blog post was published: “Debunking COVID-19 Vaccination Myths.”
The post, which broke down seven common misunderstandings about the vaccine, is part of an effort started in November to encourage employees to get the shot, said Jennifer Harris, incident commander for Memorial’s COVID-19 response.
Harris said the health system, which runs five hospitals across central Illinois, also held virtual Q&A sessions with its chief medical officer, sent out videos and shared more blog posts.
That first patient tested positive for coronavirus on Jan. 24 at AMITA Health St. Alexius Medical Center Hoffman Estates, becoming the first case to be identified in Illinois and the second in the U.S. That woman s spouse later became the first known person-to-person transmission of the virus in the nation.
“I mean back then we didn t have a lot of information it was very scary for the frontline workers as well as the general public,” said Antemann. The spouse of a Chicago woman who was diagnosed with coronavirus last week has now tested positive for the virus, marking the first instance of person-to-person spread in the U.S., the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Thursday. NBC 5 s Chris Hush leads our team coverage.
The feds need to be more upfront about stuff, though…
Pharmacists have found a way to squeeze extra doses out of vials of Pfizer’s vaccine, potentially expanding the nation’s scarce supply by up to 40 percent.
The Food and Drug Administration said late Wednesday that those extra doses could be used, clearing up confusion that had caused some pharmacists to throw away leftover vaccine for fear of violating the rules the agency set last week.
And that’ll help mitigate the fact that dose shipments were cut in half this week. UPDATE 1 Like I said, patience will be a virtue. The feds haven’t even sent the vaccine to Cook, Lake, Madison and St. Clair counties. From Jordan Abudayyeh
Loyola leadership said its Maywood campus would be the vaccine hub for 10,000 health care workers at three hospitals on the front lines of the fight against the pandemic. Loyola expected to receive 3,000 doses of the vaccine in its first shipment, which will first go to bedside workers, intensive care and emergency room nurses and doctors, followed by testing site employees and outpatient workers.
While some doses have arrived in Chicago - and the first ones were administered on Tuesday - Loyola s shipment falls under the Illinois Department of Public Health s jurisdiction. Loyola s Regional Chief Clinical Officer said the hospital has proper storage facilities for the vaccine, which must be kept at ultra-cold temperatures, but the arrival is a matter of transport from the state s facility.
The I-Team looked into the question of Where are the vaccines?
Monday was nicknamed COVID-D-Day, after the pivotal beginning of the end of World War Two.
By Tuesday, a day later for some suburban Chicago hospitals, the D in this day is disappointment. Because the vaccines that arrived in Illinois Monday have not yet arrived at their hospitals, or into the arms of their health care workers.
Yesterday, there was video of Governor JB Pritzker inspecting the vaccine warehouse while some hospitals across Chicagoland were preparing for those vaccines-expecting to receive and then begin inoculating their front line workforce the next day.