COVID-19 UPDATE: CDC Sets Holiday Guidelines; J&J Boosters OK’d; Pritzker Pushes Back Deadline For State Employees to Get Vaccinated – kanecountyconnects.com

ENCOURAGE OTHERS TO GET VACCINATED

9PM SUNDAY, OCT. 17, 2021

OVERVIEW: CDC Sets Holiday Guidelines; J&J Boosters OK’d; Pritzker Pushes Back Deadline For State Employees to Get Vaccinated

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Friday released its official public health guidance for the 2021 holiday season, offering up mostly general advice on how to prevent the spread of COVID-19, ABC News reports.

U.S. health advisers endorsed a booster of Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine Friday, citing concern that Americans who got the single-dose shot aren’t as protected as those given two-dose brands, the Associated Press reports.

Thousands of children returned to Sydney’s schools on Monday after nearly four months of home learning as Australia’s largest city eased more restrictions just a week after lifting its COVID-19 lockdown amid a surge in vaccination levels, Reuters reports.

The battle to inoculate the nation against the coronavirus has reached a fever pitch in recent months, according to NPR. Among Democrats and Democratic-leaning voters, 86% said they were at least partially vaccinated against the virus, compared to 60% of Republicans. Unvaccinated Americans also tend to be younger than 50 and less educated.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker has pushed back a deadline for state employees of veterans’ homes, prisons and other congregate facilities to be vaccinated against COVID-19 as his office negotiates with labor unions representing some workers, the Associated Press reports via ABC 7.

3:40PM WEDNESDAY, OCT. 6, 2021

OVERVIEW: 200,000 COVID Test Kits Recalled; After 6 Months, Pfizer Still 90% Effective Against Severe Illness; J&J Officially Seeks Booster Authorization

Ellume, an Australian company that makes a widely available at-home coronavirus test, has recalled nearly 200,000 test kits because of concerns about a higher-than-expected rate of false positives. That represents about 5.6% of the approximately 3.5 million test kits Ellume has shipped to the United States.

New York Times reports.

Pharmaceutical company Johnson & Johnson on Tuesday asked the Food and Drug Administration to grant emergency use authorization for a booster dose of its one-shot coronavirus vaccine, becoming the third company to ask the Biden administration to approve additional doses.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced Tuesday that a new agency report showed COVID-19 vaccinations may have helped to prevent more than a quarter-million coronavirus cases and tens of thousands of deaths among seniors, Fox News reports.

KANE COUNTY: 114 New Cases, 1 Death Tuesday

Kane County recorded 114 new cases and one additional death today.

That brings the totals to 67,097 positive cases and 862 deaths of Kane County residents since the pandemic began.

Kane County’s seven-day test positivity rate dropped to 2.8% today. It’s still slightly higher than the state average, but it’s as low as it has been for many weeks.

Kane County remains slightly ahead of the state average in vaccination, reporting 56.08% of the population is fully vaccinated.

STATE OF ILLINOIS: 3,058 New Cases, 23 Deaths; Chicago Should Have Halloween Guidance By Next Week

The Chicago Department of Public Health told NBC Chicago that the city “should have an updated Halloween guidance later this week,” NBC 5 reports.

As parents await Halloween and holiday season guidance, the Illinois Department of Public Health reports 3,058 new cases and 23 additional deaths today.

The totals to date are 1,641,061 positive cases and 25,099 deaths statewide.

The number of hospitalizations in Kane-DuPage Region 8 continues to go down. The seven-day average for the region dropped to 144 COVID-19 patients, and the percentage of available ICU beds rose today to 27%.

About 54.60% of Illinoisans are fully vaccinated.

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