Thread by @BauerJournalism

Gov. JB Pritzker will have his daily coronavirus update for Illinois at 2:30 p.m.

I'll live tweet. Follow for updates and let me know if you have questions.

blockclubchicago.org/2020/10/21/69-…

You can watch here: multimedia.illinois.gov/press/press-li…

Pritzker: Yesterday, he noted 5 of 7 regions not scheduled to experience mitigations were above 7%. "Unfortunately, all 7 of those regions are now above a 7% positivity threshold. We also continue to see concerning trends in hospital admissions across the board. ...

" In particular, I want to note that Region 7, set for additional resurgence mitigations on Friday, is showing less than 23% remaining ICU and med surge beds capacity at this time while continuing to see increases in COVID-related hospital admissions. Regional trends are still...

"moving in the wrong direction."

Pritzker: Mask up. Wash your hands. Think twice before taking unnecessary trips and being with people you don't live with.

Pritzker on vaccine: "But today is the day that my administration is updating health care providers and local health departments about Illinois' vaccine rollout framework." The plan will evolve. "First, I want to provide some background: Not long ago, the CDC asked every state...

"to create a specific COVID-19 vaccine distribution plan in line with the agency's recommendations. Our framework in Illinois is designed to provide an equitable distribution across the state with priority access going to our most vulnerable populations." Frontline health care...

workers and first responders who interact with/treat COVID patients, as well as staff/residents in longterm care facilities. "The challenge of designing a plan now, of course, is that there's so much about the vaccines that we don't know."

Pritzker: "The most defining characteristic of this plan is that it's adjustable as we go forward and learn more. And you can expect transparency with that, too."

Pritzker: "Today marks our first shipments from the stae of Illinois to local health departments around the state carrying more than 170,000 Abbott" rapid antigen tests.

Pritzker: "We're viewing these tests as an important additional tool in" the testing toolbox. They're trying to gather more data about their accuracy/sensitivity and then will adjust the state's plan "to achieve the maximum impact so we can battle COVID-19 the best we can."

Pritzker: The majority of the state's tests will go to local health departments directly.

Pritzker: "At the end of the day, our main focus is just getting the best tests out to as many people as possible."

Dr. Ngozi Ezike, head of the Illinois Department of Public Health: "We are thinking very intentionally about the COVID-19 vaccine, and I know there will be a lot of concern about the safety of this vaccine. There is a rigorous process that is in development and part of the ...

"approval process for the vaccine. There are multiple clinical trial phases to ensure both safety and efficacy."

Ezike: Vaccines will take "many, many months" to actually get into the arms of Illinois. There will be a very small amount of vaccine available at once until production ramps up. "There will not be a cost to individuals for the vaccine, although providers may charge a small ...

"fee to administer the vaccine, which will go towards insurance for those who have insurance. But no one will be turned away from getting a vaccine due to any inability to pay."

Ezike: 69 more people dead; 9,345 total.
4,343 new cases; 355,217 total.
2,338 hospitalized with COVID-19, including 502 in ICU and 194 on ventilators.
66,791 tests reported.

Ezike: "While you may be tired of hearing it, the virus is not tired, so I'll continue to say it: Wear your mask, wash your hands, watch your distance and, also, get your flu shot."

Ezike: "We should understand that that's always the pattern. A certain number of cases will go on to be hospitalizations, a certain number of hospitalizations will go on to be deaths. The more cases" the more deaths.

The spike in cases we've had is turning into more deaths.

Pritzker: "We certainly have the resources to make sure that the vaccinations that are being offered are safe for people. Illinois, like California, like other very large states, has major hospital and medical capability and researchers and scientists. And, so, yes, ...

"we are independently going to be looking at and ensuring that whatever it is we distribute in the state will be safe."

Pritzker: The CDC, federal government, etc. "has been completely politicized when it comes to COVID-19." But companies developing vaccines are following the normal course of trials. "As you've seen, President Trump has been pushing for a date certain by which he would want to ...

"deliver a vaccine, and that's just not how it works. We need to have trials to provide out whether it is safe ... ."

Pritzker: "... This is going to be an evolving methodology that gets us to a point where we can distribute, and then we won't know, again, until we see what kind of a vaccine it is whether you need two doses, how much of it we'll get, which populations we'll be able to get to ...

"fast enough." A lot will depend on manufacturing capability of the maker and how long it takes to distribute.

Ezike: "We know that there were gonna be limited doses that will be available when we get the first batch and then production will ramp up after that." But the priority will be health care workers.

Ezike: Then they'll look at people from vulnerable populations who have borne the brunt, etc.

Ezike: It also involves look at the Social Vulnerability Index. That looks at the likelihood of a community to be harder-hit when a natural disaster, pandemic, etc. hits.

Ezike: "Sometimes ... the people who may need it most might have the reason to be most hesitant. So we're gonna have to work with communities to address issues, to notify, to educate, to have their questions answered ... .

"Getting the vaccine is one step; getting into the arms is another."

Pritzker: The state police is now alerted to be on patrol in those regions with heightened mitigations. They can issue citations but will start by asking people to disperse, warning them, etc.

Pritzker: We can take away people's liquor license, though he's reluctant to do that due to the long-term impact.

Pritzker: He has 12 studies with him that show "bars and restaurants are in fact a major spreading location for the virus. It's disconcerting to me that people want to either lie about it or just disbelief the facts. ... We're not making arbitrary decisions."

Pritzker: In Region 8, the No. 1 place that people said when they were contact traced that they had been to either just before/after being tested, "was a bar or a restaurant. And that's true across the state that every high on the list across all the contact tracing we're ...

"doing ... we see that bars and restaurants are a place that people are visiting just before or just after they get their tests. It's part of the data we collect."

Pritzker: "I do want to reiterate what the mayor said. She's right, Dr. Arwady is right, that home gatherings ... these are gatherings where you're inviting people over, they may even be your own family but they live somewhere else ..., but people are lowering their guard. ...

"They're thinking that, 'Oh, this is a family member, I don't need to wear my mask.' But you don't know that your family member hasn't contracted COVID-19. And although they're trying to be careful ... the virus may be living in them, on them. And so you just want to be extra ...

"careful. It is happening; people are also somewhat disregarding the gathering limits."

Pritzker: "We need to be extra careful about travel to and from" the states around us. Be extra careful and wear a mask.

Ezike: "We have had outbreaks in medical facilities. ... I'm not familiar with that outbreak [at Stroger], but I'm sure I'll get briefed on it very soon."

Press conference over. Story: blockclubchicago.org/2020/10/21/69-…