Only 40% of McLean County residents are vaccinated, and no children under the age of 12 are even able to get their first dose yet. By continuing daily stories that report low numbers, we run the risk of turning COVID data into background noise that is easily ignored. Just about every day for the past 14 months, the WGLT newsroom has published and broadcast a story about the latest COVID-19 data coming from the McLean County Health Department. We won’t do that today, and we want to explain why. It’s not because the pandemic is over, because it’s not. Only 40% of McLean County residents are vaccinated, and no children under the age of 12 are even able to get their first dose yet. There are still about 20 people from McLean County hospitalized with COVID-19.