From conspiracy theories to mistrust in African American communities, NBC Chicago’s Chris Hush follows the stories of those tackling some of the biggest challenges getting in the way of the life-saving coronavirus vaccine.
Health officials in Indiana on Saturday reported 1,243 new cases of coronavirus and 36 additional deaths in the last 24 hours, as well as nearly 44,000 vaccinations.
According to the latest data from the Indiana State Department of Health, the new numbers bring the state to 666,516 confirmed cases of the virus since the pandemic began.
Saturday's new deaths bring the state to 12,299 as a result of the virus, with 427 more deaths currently classified as “probable” COVID-19 related fatalities.
Data shows that 41,833 new test results were returned to state laboratories in the last 24 hours, with 6,609 new individuals receiving COVID tests. That brings the state to 8,212,940 tests performed during the pandemic on 3,145,029 individuals.
The state’s rolling 7-day average positivity rate on those tests fell to 3.2% from 3.3% the day before. In that same time, an average of 9% of individuals tested for the virus have returned positive results.
Currently, 663 Indiana residents are hospitalized due to the virus, marking the lowest number of hospitalizations since late September.
Approximately 5.4% of the state’s ICU beds are currently in use by COVID patients, while 2.2% of the state’s ventilators are being used by coronavirus patients.
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Indiana reported 24,279 first doses of the vaccine administered in the last 24 hours, as well as 20,153 residents who got their second dose to be fully vaccinated, for a total of 44,432 vaccinations in the past day.
Those figures brought the total number of people who received their first dose to 1,112,590. That includes 677,890 people who have gotten both doses and are now fully vaccinated, health officials said.
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The state expanded eligibility this week from Indiana residents over the age of 60 to include those over the age of 55, as well as health care workers, residents of long-term care facilities and first responders.
