Still, with under 41% of the state population fully vaccinated and shot demand dropping precipitously, officials say a lot more work needs to be done to bring the pandemic to a close.
Nearly five times as many Illinois residents have now been vaccinated against COVID-19 as have tested positive for it since the pandemic began. Almost 6.9 million residents statewide have gotten at least one dose, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, compared to about 1.4 million people who have been confirmed infected with the coronavirus over the last 14 months. The Illinois Department of Public Health on Friday reported 62,274 more shots went into arms while just 982 new cases were diagnosed. With an all-time low positivity rate of 1.9%, the state is now as close as it’s ever been to bringing the pandemic under control, largely thanks to the fact that an average of more than 68,000 doses have been administered daily since mid-December. Only about 3,150 new cases were detected per day over the same period. That’s a ratio of about 22 shots for every new COVID-19 case since Illinois’ first dose was administered.
