While it was a moment to celebrate the progress the city has made in getting residents vaccinated, Dr. Allison Arwady said the pandemic was far from over as a large swath of people remain unvaccinated.
It’s been one year since the first Chicagoan received the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, and during that time nearly 4 million vaccine doses have been administered with nearly 2 million residents being vaccinated against a disease that has claimed the lives of almost 800,000 people nationwide. ‘We’ve never done 4 million vaccinations in a year for anything in Chicago, but we’re still not done,” Chicago Public Health Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady said Wednesday. “But there are still hundreds and thousands of people right here in Chicago who remain vulnerable.” Arwady marked the anniversary as a celebration and acknowledged much has changed in the past year. Back then she stood in front of cameras urging people to not mass gather for the holidays, but now she said it’s fine — just do so cautiously and if vaccinated. While it was a moment to celebrate the progress the city has made in getting residents vaccinated, Arwady said an estimated 650,000 people remain unvaccinated, she said.
