Illinois Department of Public Health Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike discusses the safety and effectiveness of the COVID vaccines.
Illinois health officials reported 1,248 new confirmed and probable coronavirus cases and 24 additional deaths in the last day, along with more than 53,000 vaccinations administered.
The newly reported coronavirus cases bring the state total to 1,366,268 cases since the pandemic began and lift the total death toll to 22,439, according to the Illinois Department of Public Health.
In the last 24 hours, 52,013 coronavirus test specimens were returned to state laboratories, with more than 23.8 million now conducted during the pandemic.
The statewide positivity rate dropped to 2.4% of all tests returning positive results, and the positivity rate for individuals tested in the last seven days remained at 2.9%, according to IDPH data.
The state reported 53,335 vaccinations administered in the last day, according to the latest data, bringing the seven-day rolling average of vaccines administered to 66,728 doses.
As of Saturday, the state has administered over 10.3 million doses of coronavirus vaccine during the pandemic.
As of midnight, 1,581 patients were hospitalized due to COVID. Of those patients, 404 are in ICU beds and 218 are currently on ventilators in the state.
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