The 3.2 million residents eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine in the phase 1b eligibility group can begin receiving inoculations today, but how those residents will actually receive the vaccine remains largely scattershot.
Illinois Department of Public Health Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike received her first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine Tuesday at a Cook County Public Health Department clinic and urged others to vaccinate when they are able in order "to put this nightmare behind us."
Updated 12/30/2020 7:56 AM
From the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic, health officials warned that every American was vulnerable to infection and the virus would not discriminate.
But that s exactly what it did.
Black and Hispanic residents were infected and died from COVID-19 at higher rates than other races and ethnicities in Illinois and throughout the country, provisional data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows.
That s the case in Chicago and many suburbs as well.
According to data available from the Illinois Department of Public Health and local public health departments:
• Deaths of Hispanic residents of Chicago and the suburbs from COVID-19 occurred at a rate two times higher than deaths of Hispanic residents from all causes in 2019.
Suburbs mirror COVID-19 s heavy toll on Black, Hispanic communities dailyherald.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from dailyherald.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.