chicagotribune--2020-12-11--Did COVID-19 compromise grand jury proceedings in ComEd bribery scheme? Defense attorneys want data

A motion jointly filed by attorneys for the four defendants asked for information and data from the U.S. District Court @ @ @ @ @ have been run during the pandemic , which led to a virtual shutdown of the @ @ @ @ @ the spring and continues to disrupt how juries and grand juries have been convened .

Lawyers for four people indicted in an alleged bribery scheme by Commonwealth Edison to influence powerful House Speaker Michael Madigan said in a court filing Friday they have serious concerns that COVID-19 may have led to a grand jury that was not “representative of the community” as required by law.
A motion jointly filed by attorneys for the four defendants asked for information and data from the U.S. District Court clerk on how grand juries have been run during the pandemic, which led to a virtual shutdown of the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse in the spring and continues to disrupt how juries and grand juries have been convened.
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Among the information requested in the seven-page motion was demographic information about the makeup of recent federal grand juries and any excuses potential jurors used to get out of service, as well as any written policies the court has used to constitute a jury.
“Defendants require such information to determine whether their constitutional and statutory right to a grand jury drawn from a fair cross section of the community has been violated,” the motion stated.
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The motion was the first challenge filed by the defense since an indictment was handed down on Nov. 18 charging Michael McClain, a longtime confidant of Madigan’s, with orchestrating an elaborate bribery scheme with ComEd to funnel money and do-nothing jobs to Madigan loyalists in exchange for the speaker’s help with state legislation.
In addition to McClain, the 50-page indictment also charged former ComEd CEO Anne Pramaggiore, 62, lobbyist and former ComEd executive John Hooker, 71, and Jay Doherty, 67, a consultant and former head of the City Club of Chicago.
All four have pleaded not guilty.
Madigan, 78, the longest-serving House speaker in U.S. history and chairman of the state Democratic Party, has not been accused of wrongdoing.
Federal grand juries are the mechanism used by prosecutors to bring an indictment against a defendant. The grand jury — which consists of 23 members of the public who convene over a period of months or even years — operates in secret, issuing subpoenas for records through federal prosecutors and hearing testimony from witnesses before deciding if probable cause exists to believe a crime was committed.
The U.S. attorney’s office had indicated in court filings that keeping grand juries seated early on in the pandemic had proven difficult.
To make social distancing logistically possible, grand juries began meeting in the courthouse’s large ceremonial courtroom on the 25th floor, with the door windows papered over to preserve secrecy, instead of the usual smaller grand jury room.
According to the motion, the grand jury that handed up the indictment was convened in January 2019 and some jurors were likely added after the pandemic, while others “may have deferred or been excused from jury service for reasons related” to COVID-19.
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The coronavirus has also hit the population differently depending on age, race and location, leading to the possibility that the grand jury in this case may have been “whiter, younger, and more male” than the actual makeup of the district, the motion stated.
U.S. District Judge Harry Leinenweber had not set a date to hear the motion as of Friday.
The indictment in the ComEd case alleged that beginning in 2011, the defendants “arranged for various associates” of Madigan — including his political allies and campaign workers — to “obtain jobs, contracts and monetary payments” from ComEd even in instances where they did little or no actual work.
McClain and the other defendants also conspired to have ComEd hire a Madigan-favored law firm and lawyer, previously identified in public testimony as Victor Reyes of Reyes Kurson, and to accept into ComEd’s summer internship program a certain number of students who lived in Madigan’s 13th Ward, according to the charges.
Pramaggiore and McClain also allegedly took steps to have an individual appointed to ComEd’s board of directors at the request of Madigan and McClain, the indictment stated. Tribune has identified the appointee as Juan Ochoa, the former head of the Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority of Chicago.
The U.S. attorney’s office has previously said that the investigation was ongoing.
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jmeisner@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-12-11--Coronavirus in Illinois updates: 9,420 new COVID-19 cases and 190 additional fatalities reported, as

Coronavirus in Illinois updates: 9,420 new COVID-19 cases and 190 additional fatalities reported, as state passes 14,000 deaths and Chicago-area hospitals get ready for vaccine

The state collects the figures each Friday from a database that local health departments add to throughout the week , @ @ @ @ @ documented the fall surge as it ’ s begun ripping through facilities housing Illinois ’ @ @ @ @ @ has tied outbreaks in the facilities to the virus ’ s spread in surrounding communities @ @ @ @ @ become infected and not show symptoms , yet still spread the virus in facilities where @ @ @ @ @ to quickly catch all those infections .

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CTU workers direct vehicles lined up for COVID-19 testing outside of the Chicago Teachers Union on Dec. 30, 2021, in Chicago. CPS starts back to school on Monday following their holiday break. (Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune)
Chicago-area hospitals are gearing up to deliver the first COVID-19 vaccines to their employees during the first few days of next week, pending approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
Rush University Medical Center may start giving vaccines to its workers as early as Monday, depending on when the vaccine is approved and arrives. University of Chicago Medicine may start giving vaccines to workers Wednesday. Edward-Elmhurst Health, which has hospitals in Naperville and Elmhurst, is tentatively expecting to begin vaccinating its workers Tuesday.
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As hospitals get ready for a vaccination campaign, Illinois health officials on Friday announced 9,420 new confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 and 190 additional fatalities, bringing the total number of known infections in Illinois to 832,951 and the statewide death toll to 14,050 since the start of the pandemic.
The numbers come two weeks after the Thanksgiving holiday that health officials worried could create COVID-19 superspreader events. Officials have said the state is entering the period during which a possible post-Thanksgiving surge could begin to show up.
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Meanwhile, the U.S. gave the final go-ahead Friday to the nation’s first COVID-19 vaccine, marking what could be the beginning of the end of an outbreak that has killed nearly 300,000 Americans.
Here’s what FDA approval could mean for Chicago and the rest of Illinois.
Here’s what’s happening Friday with COVID-19 in the Chicago area and Illinois:
(Updated) 9:23 p.m.: FDA authorizes emergency use of COVID-19 vaccine in bid to end pandemic
The U.S. gave the final go-ahead Friday to the nation’s first COVID-19 vaccine, marking what could be the beginning of the end of an outbreak that has killed nearly 300,000 Americans.
Shots for health workers and nursing home residents are expected to begin in the coming days after the Food and Drug Administration authorized an emergency rollout of what promises to be a strongly protective vaccine from Pfizer Inc. and its German partner BioNTech.
Read more here.—Associated Press
4:30 p.m.: ‘I’ll be the first in line’ for vaccine, Indiana doctor says as medical workers feel COVID-19′s toll
Loss of smell, taste, fever, chills. Sounds like COVID-19, maybe.
These are symptoms Dr. Scott Samlan said are described by 30 to 40 patients a day.
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But only a fraction of those will test positive for the virus, he said. Seeing so many patients has helped him predict who is sick and which cases appear most severe.
”We’re getting pretty good, like, yeah, you have COVID,” said Samlan, 44, chief executive officer at NW Indiana 24/7 ER&Hospital, which is near Cabela’s in Hammond.
People are catching the virus from their friends and family.”
They go to have a beer or cup of coffee with a friend, and that’s where they’re getting it, because they think they know these friends,” he said. “Because they think their circle is insular, but it’s not.”
As Community Hospital in Munster should get its first shipment of COVID-19 vaccines for medical workers within days, Samlan said he’s eager to get inoculated.
”I’ll be the first in line,” he said.
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—Meredith Colias-Pete, Post-Tribune
3:37 p.m.: Another grim week for nursing homes, other long-term care facilities
COVID-19 continued to tear through long-term care facilities in the past week at a pace that remained among the worst of the pandemic.
The latest figures, released Friday by the state Department of Public Health, count 420 deaths from the virus among residents at nursing homes, in assisted living and at other long-term care facilities. That was fewer than the week before, which saw 480 deaths and became the deadliest week yet for these institutions. But this week’s toll still ranks among the worst weeks of either the spring or the fall surge.
The state also recorded 4,489 new infections among residents. That’s the second-highest weekly number of the pandemic, just shy of the record of 4,536 new infections set last week.
The state collects the figures each Friday from a database that local health departments add to throughout the week, and those weekly figures have documented the fall surge as it’s begun ripping through facilities housing Illinois’ most vulnerable populations. Research has tied outbreaks in the facilities to the virus’s spread in surrounding communities. Workers and others can become infected and not show symptoms, yet still spread the virus in facilities where ramped-up testing is still unable to quickly catch all those infections.
A Tribune analysis last week showed that, as with Illinois’ overall second surge, the rates of new cases and deaths were highest in areas outside of the greater Chicago area, when adjusted for population size.
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Many of the new outbreaks have gotten little individual attention from the state, but an outbreak at the state-run veterans home in LaSalle has resulted in the state firing the director and placing the nursing administrator on leave. As of Friday the virus had infected 209 veterans and staffers, and killed 33.
—Joe Mahr
3 p.m.: Art Institute, Brookfield Zoo announce staff furloughs amid new round of pandemic closings
The Art Institute and Brookfield Zoo both announced this week that they will be furloughing scores more workers in the new year as the institutions reckon with a second wave of pandemic-caused shutdowns.
The Art Institute on Friday said it will put 109 staffers from across departments on furlough beginning in the new year while the higher-paid employees who remain on full-time duty take pay cuts.
Meanwhile, earlier this week Brookfield Zoo said it will furlough 40 workers beginning in January as the zoo shuts down for a couple of months.
Read more here. —Steve Johnson
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2:24 p.m.: White House threatens FDA chief’s job if Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine is not granted emergency authorization by end of the day
White House chief of staff Mark Meadows on Friday pressed Food and Drug Administration chief Stephen Hahn to grant an emergency use authorization for Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine by the end of the day or face possible firing, two administration officials said.
The vaccine produced by Pfizer Inc. and its German partner BioNTech won a critical endorsement Thursday from an FDA panel of outside advisers, and signoff from the agency — which is expected within days — is the next step needed to get the shots to the public.
The FDA is not required to follow the guidance of its advisory committees, but often does.
Meadows spoke to Hahn by telephone on Friday, according to a senior administration official who was familiar with the conversation but was not authorized to discuss private conversations.
Read more here. —Associated Press
2:22 p.m.: Walgreens to hire 25,000 as part of plan to start giving COVID-19 vaccine to nursing home residents and staff before Christmas
Walgreens expects to receive its first doses of the COVID-19 vaccine Dec. 21 and plans to inoculate nursing home residents and workers at more than 30,000 longterm care facilities nationwide.
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Deerfield-based Walgreens plans to hire about 25,000 workers across the U.S., including up to 9,000 pharmacists and other health care workers, to administer the vaccine, once approved, to longterm care facilities through a partnership with pharmacy service provider PharMerica, the companies said during a panel discussion Friday on the vaccine rollout.
Read more here. —Abdel Jimenez
2:12 p.m.: Chicago-area hospitals get ready for vaccine
Chicago-area hospitals are gearing up to deliver the first COVID-19 vaccines to their employees during the first few days of next week, pending approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
Rush University Medical Center may start giving vaccines to its workers as early as Monday, depending on when the vaccine is approved and arrives. University of Chicago Medicine may start giving vaccines to workers Wednesday. Edward-Elmhurst Health, which has hospitals in Naperville and Elmhurst, is tentatively expecting to begin vaccinating its workers Tuesday.
University of Chicago thinks it might get about 1,950 doses and Edward Elmhurst says it may get 3,900 vaccines as part of the first shipment. Rush expects about 1,950 doses.
Rush has already set up 10 vaccination bays in its Brennan Pavilion and hopes, after a soft launch, to vaccinate about 1,000 workers a day, assuming each vaccination takes about five to seven minutes and vaccinations run from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m., said Lisa Weichman Harries, Rush director of operations for employee and corporate health services.
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Rush will prioritize workers who are exposed to patients with COVID-19 or participate in procedures that generate aerosols. Rush employees will be notified over MyChart and email about when they may sign up for appointments.
Many hospitals are already asking workers to register for vaccine appointments.
At University of Chicago Medicine, employees have been asked to create MyChart accounts, where they will receive notifications when it’s their turn for the shots, at which point they can schedule appointments.
University of Chicago Medicine is vaccinating workers in three waves with the first priority going to those who work within six feet of patients, including nurses, doctors, food delivery workers and custodians. The second wave will be for workers who don’t provide patient care but work in spaces where patients are present, and the third wave will be for employees who don’t work in facilities where patients are present.
Employees who identify as belonging to high-risk groups — such as those with Type II diabetes, serious heart conditions and cancer — will get priority within each wave. They don’t have to prove they are at high-risk. University of Chicago Medicine will take their word for it.
The system expects to receive enough vaccines to vaccinate all interested employees by February.
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Advocate Aurora Health, which has 10 hospitals in Illinois, expects to be able to vaccinate all its interested frontline workers in the next four to six weeks, said Dr. Robert Citronberg, executive medical director of infectious disease and prevention, during a news conference Thursday.
The system is prioritizing people who work in its ICUs, COVID-19 units and emergency rooms.
At Edward-Elmhurst, interested employees are registering to receive appointments.
Though many hospitals require employees to get flu shots each year, most will not likely require workers to get the COVID-19 vaccine, largely because it will be approved under an emergency use authorization, rather than a regular, full FDA approval.
”While it’s been studied for a few months, we don’t have enough data about any long term effects about it, and we think as a system a more prudent approach is to encourage the vaccine among our team members,” Citronberg said. “We are very optimistic that the vast majority of our team members will take the vaccine over the next few months.”
—Lisa Schencker
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2:10 p.m.: Congress averts government shutdown, buys more time for COVID-19 relief talks
Congress sent a temporary government-wide funding bill to President Donald Trump on Friday that would avert a federal shutdown at midnight and buy time for on-again, off-again talks on COVID-19 aid.
The bill sets a new deadline of midnight next Friday. The short-term measure passed the Senate by a unanimous voice vote without much drama and sent senators home for the weekend without a clear picture of what awaits next week. The House passed the bill Wednesday. Trump was expected to sign it before midnight.
The talks are stalled but there is universal agreement that Congress won’t adjourn for the year without passing a long-delayed round of pandemic relief. An emerging $900 billion aid package from a bipartisan group of lawmakers hit a rough patch after Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., swung against the effort. Still, negotiations are ongoing and the pressure remains intense.
Read more here. —Associated Press
1:30 p.m.: United Airlines gears up to help distribute vaccine
Even as passenger numbers have plummeted during the coronavirus pandemic, United Airlines’ 55,000-square-foot cargo facility just south of the terminals at O’Hare International Airport has kept humming with planes unloading containers carrying anything from mail and packages to pharmaceuticals and PPE.
Now United is gearing up for an influx of even more critical cargo: the COVID-19 vaccine. The kickoff to the vaccination campaign moved a step closer this week as a U.S. government advisory panel endorsed use of Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine, and Chicago officials prepare for the rollout, including an initial shipment of 23,000 doses.
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Getting millions of doses to people in the U.S. alone will require a massive logistical effort with an extra challenge: vaccines that must be kept far more frigid than typical cargo. United is just one of several airlines and shipping companies gearing up for a push.
Read more here. —Lauren Zumbach
1:18 p.m.: Chicago’s Dean Richards returns to work after a bout with COVID-19: ‘This virus is sneaky.
Dean Richards, the longtime WGN-Channel 9 and WGN 720-AM personality, is to return to the airwaves Sunday morning after recovering from the COVID-19 virus.
Richards, whose illness was first reported by the media columnist Robert Feder, said he felt fortunate that his relatively mild symptoms had not been more serious.
”I thought I was being super-careful,” he told the Tribune Friday. “All I can say to people is, if you think that too ... be even more careful. This virus is sneaky.”
Richards, 66, said he plans to broadcast his Sunday morning WGN radio show from home.
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Dating back to the days of the late Roy Leonard, the show long has been a locus for arts and entertainment coverage. On Sunday’s show, Richards said, he plans to talk to Emily Blunt and Jamie Dornan about their new Irish movie, “Wild Mountain Thyme,” a new adaptation of John Patrick Shanley’s play “Outside Mullingar.”
Read more here. —Chris Jones
12:11 p.m.: 9,420 new confirmed and probable COVID-19 cases and 190 additional deaths reported
Illinois health officials on Friday announced 9,420 new confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 and 190 additional fatalities, bringing the total number of known infections in Illinois to 832,951 and the statewide death toll to 14,050 since the start of the pandemic. Officials also reported 104,448 new tests in the last 24 hours.
The seven-day statewide rolling positivity rate for cases as a share of total tests was 9.4% for the period ending Thursday.
—Chicago Tribune staff
12:08 p.m.: Some COVID-19 vaccines are nearly ready for use. Others are still being tested. Here are some of the local volunteers taking part in vaccine trials.
David Daly was a little bit nervous earlier this month as the syringe pricked his upper arm, the first injection he received as a volunteer in a local COVID-19 vaccine clinical trial.
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The 43-year-old actuary from southwest suburban Lockport knows there is always some risk involved in helping test the safety and efficacy of any new drug.
“But I think it is a pretty acceptable risk,” he said after his appointment at Rush University Medical Center, where he’s taking part in a study for a vaccine developed by the University of Oxford and the multinational pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca. “I’ve been impressed that even though it’s moved quickly, I think they’re still taking safety very seriously. They’re not shortcutting scientific protocols for the vaccine.”
Daly is among the roughly half-million Americans who have signed up to participate in various vaccine trials as scientists race to produce safe and effective immunizations to the coronavirus, which has so far killed more than 13,000 in Illinois and 1.5 million worldwide.
Read more here. —Angie Leventis Lourgos
11:40 a.m.: Illinois State University cancels spring break over COVID-19 concerns
Illinois State University students won’t be getting a spring break next year after all because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
A couple of months after saying that the students at the campus in Normal would have be getting a break in the spring 2021 semester, ISU President Larry Dietz sent out a letter informing students and faculty about the change in plans.
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As with other schools that have modified or canceled breaks, Dietz said in a message that the decision was made “at the urging of state officials” out of concern that students traveling home and then coming back could cause the virus to spread on campus and in the community.
Read more here. —Associated Press
10:07 a.m.: Hines VA hospital among 37 VA hospitals to receive initial vaccine doses
The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs on Friday announced that Hines VA Hospital in Maywood would be among 37 VA sites across the country to receive initial doses of the COVID-19 vaccine.
The west suburban hospital was the only VA hospital in Illinois to make the list.
An FDA advisory committee on Thursday recommended that the agency approve Pfizer’s vaccine for emergency use. The FDA is expected to issue a decision within days.
Hines was selected because it has the capacity to vaccinate large numbers of people and store the vaccine at the extremely cold temperatures necessary for Pfizer’s product, the hospital said in a press release.
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When the vaccine is approved, Hines will start immunizing health care workers and veterans in its long-term care facilities, the release said. Eventually the hospital hopes to receive enough vaccine for all veterans who want it.
—Madeline Buckley
5 a.m.: New hospital data shows wide disparities in available beds; search for any Illinois hospital below
Amid pandemic fears of overrun hospitals, federal regulators have released figures that show how full each hospital is — including with COVID-19 patients — and how many beds each has to spare.
The figures, which cover a seven day period from Nov. 27 to Dec. 3, show wide disparities across the Chicago area and the state.
Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn averaged nearly 182 patients a day with confirmed or suspected cases of COVID-19, the highest number in the state. Seven other hospitals averaged more than 100 daily COVID-19 patients, including six in the greater Chicago area and one in Peoria.
One key metric is the capacity in intensive care units, because forecasters fear ICUs would be the first to fill up in a surge. During the week reflected in the new data, the state Department of Public Health showed the overall percentage of open ICU beds in Illinois hovered between 18% to 24%. The state has set a threshold of concern of 20%.
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But the individual-level federal data shows how much ICU capacity varies from hospital to hospital. More than a dozen had less than 10% of their ICU beds left, according to the new data. Three hospitals reported that every staffed ICU bed that week was occupied with a patient: Franciscan Health Olympia Fields, Mt. Sinai in Chicago and Memorial in downstate Belleville.
New numbers come out each Monday, to cover the preceding Friday-to-Thursday period.
You can look up any Illinois hospital here. —Joe Mahr
5 a.m.: ‘This feeling is needed.’ Virtual Santas go all out to make Christmas special for kids during the pandemic.
This year, getting in the holiday spirit requires a dash of hope, a little bit of magic and a zoom account. Just ask Santa.
“(Kids) know COVID-19 is bad, they know to wear their masks and be careful and maybe they won’t see their cousins this Christmas,” said Andre Russell, aka Dreezy Claus. “But when they talk to me they are just having a ball.”
Veteran Santa Clauses and rookie St. Nicks alike are shifting the gears on their sleighs and pivoting to virtual visits with customized backgrounds and classic props while officials plead with people to stay home during the pandemic.
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Read more here. —Jessica Villagomez
Breaking coronavirus news Stay up to date with the latest information on coronavirus with our breaking news alerts.
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chicagotribune--2020-12-11--With beds in short supply, some Illinois hospital emergency rooms are sending COVID-19 patients home

With beds in short supply, some Illinois hospital emergency rooms are sending COVID-19 patients home to recover

He was reluctant to go to the hospital , but after more than two weeks of a fever , intense @ @ @ @ @ he said his wife “ grabbed me by the ear and said , ‘ Let @ @ @ @ @ She took him to the emergency room at Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn @ @ @ @ @ by looking at Hernandez ’ s lungs that he had COVID-19 .

As someone with diabetes and high blood pressure, Tanya Hubbard believed it was only a matter of time before she would get seriously ill after she tested positive for COVID-19 in October.
Sure enough, about a week after learning she had the illness, the 61-year-old grandmother was coughing so much she couldn’t sleep.
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Hubbard, who lives in Champaign, headed to the emergency room at Carle Foundation Hospital in Urbana, where doctors discovered early signs of pneumonia. But they didn’t admit her to the hospital. Rather, they sent her home to recover with a pulse oximeter, a thermometer and instructions to talk with a doctor over the phone each day.
“They assured me they would call me every single day and talk to me until I was better,” said Hubbard, who works as a nurse at Carle. Within a couple of days, her condition had improved significantly and the doctor who was monitoring her told her, “‘I think you’ve licked this thing,’” she said. “Best words I’ve ever heard in my life.”
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With space tight in Illinois hospitals due to a recent surge in cases, some hospital ERs are trying a new tactic to free up space: sending COVID-19 patients home. Hospital systems including Carle, Amita Health and Advocate Aurora Health are allowing some patients who arrive in the ER with mild-to-moderate symptoms to recover at home with equipment and regular check-ins from medical workers.
“They do better at home with their loved ones, in their comfort zone, and (it keeps) them from tying up bed space,” said Emily Myers, hospital medicine manager at Carle.
Only a small number of patients are being sent home at this point, but the practice could become more common if there’s another COVID-19 surge in coming weeks. As of Thursday night, about 25% of total hospital beds across the state were still available, and about 19% of total ICU beds were open, according to the state health department.
Some have criticized the strategy, saying it’s not ideal for patients.
NorthShore University HealthSystem, for example, views the idea of sending home certain types of COVID-19 patients — such as those who need supplemental oxygen — as a last resort. If the health system, which has five hospitals in Chicago and the north suburbs, ran out of beds, it would prefer to first transfer patients to other hospitals or skilled nursing facilities, said Dr. Neil Freedman, division head of pulmonary and critical care at NorthShore.
“We would rather admit all of these patients to the hospital if we had the beds and staff to take care of them,” Freedman said.
How it works
Carle has sent home about 150 ER patients as part of its “COVID-at-home” program, which started in September. Nearly 90% of those patients recovered at home, without needing hospitalization. Some had to be hospitalized to receive supplemental oxygen, Myers said.
Each patient sent home receives a kit that includes a thermometer, pulse oximeter and logs to record temperatures and oxygen levels. A doctor calls the patient every day, over video or phone.
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Amita Health, which has 19 hospitals in Illinois, started sending some moderate-risk COVID-19 patients from its emergency department home about two weeks ago, partly as a way to deal with space constraints, said Dr. Steven Zahn, regional medical director at Amita Health St. Alexius Medical Center Hoffman Estates and Amita Health Alexian Brothers Medical Center Elk Grove Village. Patients get pulse oximeters and daily check-ins from hospital workers.
“It’s true we’d love to see all these patients in the hospital, but there’s no room and this is the next best thing,” Zahn said.
So far, about 100 patients have participated. About half of them have been able to stay out of the hospital, he said.
Advocate Aurora, which has 10 hospitals in Illinois, takes its program even further, sending some COVID-19 patients home with supplemental oxygen in addition to other equipment. Advocate gives some patients tablets for virtual visits with nurse practitioners. Patients also get in-person visits from nurses.
So far, about 250 patients, in Illinois and Wisconsin, have been through the Advocate program, with about 80% to 85% of those patients able to stay out of the hospital, said Becky Trella, executive director of Advocate Aurora’s Home Hospital program.
Luis Hernandez, a 41-year-old high school teacher from Chicago’s Garfield Ridge neighborhood, said the program was an enormous help to him when he fell ill with COVID-19 during the summer.
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Luis Hernandez at his home on Dec. 10, 2020, in Chicago. Hernandez went to the emergency room at Advocate Christ Medical Center after contracting COVID-19 but was sent home with monitoring rather than being admitted to the hospital. (Armando L. Sanchez / Chicago Tribune)
He was reluctant to go to the hospital, but after more than two weeks of a fever, intense headaches and body aches, he said his wife “grabbed me by the ear and said, ‘Let’s go.’” She took him to the emergency room at Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, where doctors could tell by looking at Hernandez’s lungs that he had COVID-19.
Still, they sent him home. Once at home, his wife monitored his blood pressure, blood oxygen and temperature throughout the day. Every other day, he checked in with an Advocate nurse practitioner over video, and a nurse visited his house once or twice a week, he said.
Hernandez was relieved to be in the comfort of his own home, able to occasionally poke his head outdoors for fresh air.
“If I had to be admitted to the hospital, I think I would have been sicker longer because your demeanor goes down,” Hernandez said. “I was happy I was able to go home and get the help I got.”
Having nurses check in on him at home lifted his spirits and eased his recovery, he said. “It made me feel better,” he said. “Having somebody telling you you’re getting better is a lot better than just guessing.”
Within about a month of getting COVID-19, he started to feel more like himself again.
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‘A rationing of care’
Some, however, worry about the prospect of sending home COVID-19 patients who might have been admitted in the past, when hospitals were less crowded.
“These patients would be safer in a hospital bed, but there isn’t one available for them anymore,” wrote Dr. Ashish Jha, dean of the Brown University School of Public Health, in an opinion piece for the Washington Post on Dec. 7. “In effect, COVID-19 is leading to a rationing of care.”
Trella, with Advocate Aurora, said the hospital system has strict criteria for the types of patients it will allow into its program. Among other things, patients must be adults and must have a doctor who can manage their care after they leave the program.
“The ones we’re taking, I feel it’s very safe for us to manage them,” Trella said.
Recently, only about 10 people were in Advocate’s program in Illinois, and about 50 in Wisconsin.
The Carle program also only lets adults participate, and requires that patients follow up with their primary care doctors after they are finished with their quarantines, Myers said. The hospital has medical criteria for who may participate, such as requiring patients to have blood oxygen levels above 92%. Whether they can participate is based on an assessment from an ER physician.
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Zahn, with Amita, said patients are closely monitored. “They’re getting high-quality care, not quite to the level of inpatient care, but very strong support,” Zahn said.
Hubbard, the Carle nurse who was in the hospital’s at-home program, said she never felt unsafe recovering at home.
Even though she’s a nurse, Hubbard still felt unsure and scared when she first got ill. The daily contact with doctors and nurses eased her anxiety, she said. The morning after she went home from the emergency room, a nurse called her to explain the program and a doctor called to discuss how she was feeling.
She was so impressed that once she recovered, she asked and was given permission to begin working within the program, talking to patients, like herself, about their own symptoms and recoveries.
“God just touched me and said you’ve got to do something to help people in your situation,” Hubbard said. “It’s a scary time, and it’s a lonely time.”
lschencker@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-12-11--‘Cheer’ star Jerry Harris indicted on new charges alleging he coerced teens to send him obscene phot

‘Cheer’ star Jerry Harris indicted on new charges alleging he coerced teens to send him obscene photos, solicited sex from minors

Harris , 21 , of Naperville , has been held without bond since his arrest in September on child pornography @ @ @ @ @ raided Harris ’ Naperville home in September , he admitted to agents during an interview @ @ @ @ @ images and sex from a boy on numerous occasions , according to a criminal complaint @ @ @ @ @ .

“Cheer” star Jerry Harris has been indicted on new charges alleging he coerced teenage boys to send him obscene photos and videos of themselves and solicited sex from minors at cheerleading competitions.
The seven-count indictment made public Friday added four new alleged victims in the case against Harris, which calls for a mandatory minimum 15 years in prison if convicted.
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Jerry Harris, a Waubonsie Valley High School graduate who stars on the Netflix docuseries "Cheer" has been indicted on new charges alleging he coerced teenage boys to send him obscene photos and videos of themselves and solicited sex from minors at cheerleading competitions. (Netflix)
Harris, 21, of Naperville, has been held without bond since his arrest in September on child pornography charges. After the FBI raided Harris’ Naperville home in September, he admitted to agents during an interview that he had solicited lewd images and sex from a boy on numerous occasions, according to a criminal complaint originally filed in the case.
An arraignment on the new charges had not been set as of Friday. Though Harris’ attorneys have not yet addressed the charges directly, he has denied similar allegations made in a civil suit through a spokesperson.
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Attorneys for two of Harris’ alleged victims — brothers who have filed suit against Harris in Texas — released a statement Friday praising authorities for continuing to “locate victims and take action.”
“This was made possible because our clients’ mother initially had the courage to report Harris to the FBI and provided evidentiary proof of the manipulation, sexual harassment, abuse, and exploitation that her sons had suffered,” the statement from attorneys Morgan Stewart and Sarah Klein read.
Prosecutors have alleged in court filings how Harris began grooming one victim when the boy was just 13 years old. The boy told investigators in a recent interview that when he was 15, Harris followed him into a public bathroom at a cheerleading event and sexually assaulted him.
“Harris’ sexual assault of this boy in such a public place, in an unlocked public bathroom, during an event attended by dozens of responsible adults demonstrates that Harris either does not care about being caught committing his offenses, or simply cannot stop himself,” the prosecution filing stated.
After Harris was tipped off by the owner of a gymnasium who’d been interviewed by law enforcement, he destroyed his cellphone and acquired a new “clean” phone “to continue to reach out and victimize minor boys,” prosecutors have said.
The U.S. attorney’s office has said its investigation is ongoing, and any other potential victims were encouraged to contact the FBI Chicago field office.
Born in Hinsdale and raised in Bolingbrook, Harris rose to fame on the Emmy-winning “Cheer,” which premiered in January. The docuseries follows the competitive cheerleading squad at Navarro College in Texas.
Harris graduated in 2017 from Waubonsie Valley High School in Aurora, where he was a standout student, and studied at Navarro.
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Viewers and celebrities took note of the way he enthusiastically motivated his fellow cheerleaders while they performed stunts, also known as “mat talking.”
He worked the Oscars red carpet in February as a correspondent for Ellen DeGeneres’ talk show. He shared a stage with Oprah Winfrey, appeared in a sketch on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” and recently got a surprise virtual visit from actress Gabrielle Union, who showered him with praise.
jmeisner@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-12-11--Final four ramps to open as Jane Byrne Interchange construction shifts to mainline Kennedy and Dan R

Final four ramps to open as Jane Byrne Interchange construction shifts to mainline Kennedy and Dan Ryan

When the four are open , all 10 of the interchange ramps will have been rebuilt as part of the @ @ @ @ @ known unofficially as the “ spaghetti bowl , ” a notorious traffic bottleneck at the @ @ @ @ @ freeway system .

Construction continues along Interstate 90/94 at the Jane Byrne Interchange in Chicago on Dec. 11, 2020. (Zbigniew Bzdak / Chicago Tribune)
The final four ramps in the ongoing Jane Byrne Interchange project are set to open next week, offering motorists a light at the end of tunnel as construction shifts to the mainline Kennedy and Dan Ryan expressways, the Illinois of Department of Transportation announced Friday.
The nearly decadelong project is on track to be completed by late 2022, IDOT said.
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By Tuesday morning, drivers will be able to access the inbound Kennedy ramps to Taylor Street and Ida B. Wells Drive as well as the outbound Dan Ryan from Ida B. Wells and the Canal Street entrance to the Eisenhower Expressway.
“This represents a milestone in the overall Jane Byrne Interchange project, restoring all of the system ramps for use,” IDOT engineer Steve Travia said. “This is the first time in a few years we’ve had all of those movements open.”
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When the four are open, all 10 of the interchange ramps will have been rebuilt as part of the massive reconstruction of the junction known unofficially as the “spaghetti bowl,” a notorious traffic bottleneck at the heart of Chicago’s freeway system.
More than 400,000 motorists navigate the confluence of the Eisenhower, Kennedy and Dan Ryan expressways west of the Loop every day, according to pre-pandemic traffic estimates from IDOT.
The Jane Byrne Interchange in Chicago on Dec. 11, 2020. (Zbigniew Bzdak / Chicago Tribune)
The project, which began in 2013, was originally estimated to cost $535.5 million and be finished in June 2018. The price tag has since risen several times to nearly $794 million, with the completion date pushed back to the end of 2022.
IDOT has blamed, in part, poor soil in the project area that required robust retaining walls lining Interstate 90/94 for both the construction delays and cost increases.
Construction is completed on eight crossroad bridges over the Dan Ryan, Kennedy and Eisenhower, 10 ramps and the mainline Eisenhower through the interchange. Next up is work on the mainline Kennedy and Dan Ryan.
In addition, work continues on the replacement of the last two overhead bridges at Jackson Boulevard and Adams Street, Travia said.
To prepare for the next stage of the project, lane closures on the inbound Kennedy between Ohio and Van Buren streets are scheduled overnight Monday to install signage and pavement markings.
The junction, formerly known as the Circle Interchange, has been rated as the biggest bottleneck for truck drivers in the nation by the Federal Highway Administration.
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When construction is completed, interchange improvements are projected to reduce serious injury crashes by 25% and overall congestion by 50%, Travia said.
rchannick@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-12-11--Crestwood dental office workers say they were illegally filmed while using bathroom

After the first camera was found , office employees were assured the bathroom had been checked out and that no @ @ @ @ @ but a second camera was discovered Oct. 26 , according to the complaints .

Eleven current and former employees of a Crestwood dentist office have filed lawsuits alleging they were secretly recorded using the washroom at the practice.
The complaints were filed in Cook County Circuit Court on Thursday by the Clifford Law Offices in Chicago and seek damages in excess of $50,000.
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The plaintiffs, some of whom have since quit their jobs, worked at the Aspen Dental office, 13442 S. Cicero Ave., and the complaints said that two cameras were found in October in the office’s unisex washroom.
In this photo from the Clifford Law Offices, a camera is shown, center, that a lawsuit alleges was hidden in the unisex washroom of a Crestwood dentist office. (Clifford Law Offices)
Named as defendants are Aspen Dental Management as well as dentist Abigail Brier and her business, ABD Dental Associates, which operates the practice.
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Brier did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment.
The lawsuits allege that another employee at the office installed the cameras. He was charged by Crestwood police with misdemeanor offenses after the first camera was discovered Oct. 22, according to the complaints.
The lawsuits allege that Brier and other ABD officials failed to conduct a thorough background check on the employee, who the complaints allege had a prior criminal history.
The lawsuits allege negligent hiring, negligent supervision and negligent retention of the employee who allegedly put the cameras in the washroom.
The cameras had been placed in the washroom sometime in September, according to the complaints.
After the first camera was found, office employees were assured the bathroom had been checked out and that no other devices were found, but a second camera was discovered Oct. 26, according to the complaints.
The lawsuits were filed by a dentist, dental hygienists, dental assistants and a marketing employee.
Daily Southtown Twice-weekly News updates from the south suburbs delivered every Monday and Wednesday By submitting your email to receive this newsletter, you agree to our Subscriber Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy >
Complaints were lodged by Trent Jones, a dentist at Aspen who has since left the practice, and Alyssa Raine, hired in July as a dental assistant and who has since quit.
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In a statement, Raine said that she was outraged after the discovery of the cameras.
“I was sick to my stomach,” she said. “I still cry about the way my privacy was taken from me.”
The first camera was found by a dentist at Aspen and the second by a laboratory technician, according to Joseph Rourke, the attorney representing the plaintiffs.
Rather than file a single complaint with all 11 plaintiffs listed, Rourke said each of the current and former employees “is entitled to their own case.”
“Each individual processes trauma and grief differently,” he said.
mnolan@tribpub.com


chicagotribune--2020-12-11--Coronavirus at Illinois long-term care facilities: 54,907 confirmed cases and 6,954 deaths

The Illinois Department of Public Health is releasing information on COVID-19 tied to long-term care facilities in Illinois .
The @ @ @ @ @ at 1,419 long-term care facilities in 94 counties .
Of those , 989 facilities have @ @ @ @ @ , defined as a positive test result in the past 28 days .
In all @ @ @ @ @ be tied to long-term care facilities , with 6,954 deaths , as of Dec. 11 @

The Illinois Department of Public Health is releasing information on COVID-19 tied to long-term care facilities in Illinois. The data shows outbreaks have occurred at long-term care facilities in 94 counties. Of those, 1,003 facilities have an “active” outbreak, defined as a positive test result in the past 28 days. In all, 71,103 confirmed cases can be tied to long-term care facilities, with 9,263 deaths, as of Jan. 22.


chicagotribune--2020-12-11--Deadly COVID-19 outbreak hits LaSalle Veterans' Home

With everyone hunkered down at home during the pandemic , the tradition of decorating for the holidays has taken on @ @ @ @ @ .

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chicagotribune--2020-12-11--Watch live: Gov. J.B. Pritzker gives a COVID-19 update

Gov .
J.B. Pritzker will give an update on the state ’ s response to the coronavirus in a briefing @ @ @ @ @ the latest updates on COVID-19 in Illinois here .


chicagotribune--2020-12-11--Duckworth offers hope to restaurant industry workers, says relief bill ‘very close’

“ This is the biggest demand for housing and food assistance we ’ ve seen since the Great Depression , @ @ @ @ @ Congress isn ’ t acting like they ’ re aware that 2.1 million people in @ @ @ @ @ work .
I used to have 250 employees ; now we have 80 .
People @ @ @ @ @ have gone on to open their own restaurants , making major contributions to their neighborhood @ @ @ @ @ the American Dream , isn ’ t it ?
And now they ’ re telling @ @ @ @ @ t survive .
We ’ re seeing neighborhoods being shattered because the American Dream is @ @ @

In a video town-hall meeting sponsored by the Illinois Restaurant Association, Sen. Tammy Duckworth gave hope to the restaurant industry, saying that a relief bill that would provide immediate financial assistance was “very close to the finish line.”
“I’m not leaving town until we get federal relief out the door,” she said Friday, speaking from Washington.
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The news cheered the restaurant industry members who participated in the call, who also reiterated that restaurant owners and workers are facing a crisis.
“What we really need is a dedicated relief fund like the RESTAURANTS Act,” said Sam Toia, president and CEO of the Illinois Restaurant Association. “But at the very least, we need a down payment immediately, before the end of the year.”
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Toia ticked off more than a few frightening statistics, some already familiar to members of the industry: 2.1 million restaurant workers are unemployed; 58% of surveyed restaurants say they’re unlikely to remain in business without federal aid. Duckworth, who co-sponsored the RESTAURANTS Act (which already has passed in the House), emphasized her support and vowed to keep fighting.
For the immediate future, Duckworth’s focus remained on passing another round of the Paycheck Protection Program, a loan program, with provisions that would help the restaurant industry and other small businesses.
“I’m personally writing a bill that would include automatic (PPP) loan forgiveness, for businesses making less than $150,000, without paperwork,” Duckworth said. “There would be checkmarks, and if you meet the criteria, your loan will be forgiven.”
(The criteria are still unspecified, but intended, Duckworth said, to identify “true small businesses.”)
Erick Williams, shown at his restaurant Virtue in Chicago on June 6, 2019, said Friday: "I don’t know one congressman or politician who hasn’t used hospitality services to get where they are, from fundraisers to galas. It’s time for them to come together and recognize the community that has been the rung on their ladders.” (Zbigniew Bzdak / Chicago Tribune)
Other speakers included an emotional Rick Bayless. The acclaimed chef and Frontera restaurant group owner spoke through tears as he recounted the desperation of the current situation.
“This is the biggest demand for housing and food assistance we’ve seen since the Great Depression,” he said. “Congress isn’t acting like they’re aware that 2.1 million people in our profession are out of work. I used to have 250 employees; now we have 80. People who worked with me and have gone on to open their own restaurants, making major contributions to their neighborhood — and that’s the American Dream, isn’t it? And now they’re telling me that they can’t survive. We’re seeing neighborhoods being shattered because the American Dream is being shattered.
“Our industry is incredibly resilient,” Bayless said. “I’ve been so impressed with their tenacity and willingness to do anything to get to the other side. But we’re standing on the precipice. Get us something so we can hold onto some hope.”
Erick Williams, chef/owner of Virtue restaurant in Hyde Park, was the last to speak.
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“The reality is, we’re in dire straits,” he said, “and being an African American chef had its own challenges. But I don’t know one congressman or politician who hasn’t used hospitality services to get where they are, from fundraisers to galas. It’s time for them to come together and recognize the community that has been the rung on their ladders.”


chicagotribune--2020-12-11--Here’s how United may fly COVID-19 vaccine: A million doses on one jet, 15,000 pounds of dry ice

Shipping companies like UPS and FedEx , meanwhile , can carry vaccines by air and truck .
While some vaccines @ @ @ @ @ Europe , Pfizer is also expected to ship some from its facility in Kalamazoo , @ @ @ @ @ center in Pleasant Prairie , Wisconsin , near the Illinois border before sending them out @ @ @ @ @ will also need to develop plans for storing the vaccines at the required temperatures .

Cargo handlers unload a Boeing 777-300 from Narita International Airport in Japan at the United Airlines cargo facility at O'Hare International Airport on Dec.10, 2020. (E. Jason Wambsgans / Chicago Tribune)
United Airlines’ 55,000-square-foot cargo facility just south of the terminals at O’Hare International Airport has kept humming during the coronavirus pandemic with planes unloading containers carrying anything from mail and packages to pharmaceuticals and personal protective equipment.
Now United is gearing up for an influx of even more critical cargo: the COVID-19 vaccine. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued emergency use authorization of Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine Friday, and Chicago officials are preparing for the rollout, including an initial shipment of 23,000 doses.
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Getting millions of doses to people across the U.S. will require a massive logistical effort with an extra challenge: vaccines that must be kept far more frigid than typical cargo. United is just one of several airlines and shipping companies gearing up for the push.
“We just want to position ourselves to be prepared to do whatever we can to help with the global distribution,” said Chris Busch, United Airlines’ managing director of cargo.
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While it’s not yet clear how large a role United or its Chicago hub will play, the city is so central to the transportation industry that “in almost any logistical operation, it’s going to be coming through Chicago,” said Hani Mahmassani, director of the Northwestern University Transportation Center.
Cargo handlers prepare to unload a Boeing 777-300 from Narita International Airport in Japan on Dec. 10, 2020, at the United Airlines cargo facility at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago. (E. Jason Wambsgans / Chicago Tribune)
United said in a statement Saturday it operated five cargo flights in late November and early December delivering doses of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine from Brussels to Chicago, becoming the first commercial airline to fly an FDA-approved coronavirus vaccine to the U.S.
Transporting vaccines is nothing new for United, which regularly transports medical cargo. United’s cargo facility at O’Hare, which handles both mail and freight, has three refrigerated rooms and battery-powered refrigerated containers that can keep cargo like pharmaceuticals cold during a flight, and a team of employees monitoring temperature-controlled shipments.
But the Pfizer vaccine wouldn’t be stored in those containers, because it must be kept at temperatures much colder than standard freezer temperatures: about minus 70 Celsius, or minus 94 Fahrenheit. The Moderna vaccine doesn’t need to be kept as cold.
Pfizer said it developed shipping containers for the COVID-19 vaccine that can maintain those temperatures for 10 days with no additional equipment beyond dry ice.
United and other airlines worked with the FAA to get permission to carry more dry ice than usual in the cargo hold. United, for instance, can pack up to 15,000 pounds on charter flights between Brussels and Chicago flown to support distribution of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine, according to an FAA letter obtained by the Tribune.
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Those planes can typically carry 3,000 pounds of dry ice. Dry ice is regulated because it turns to carbon dioxide gas at temperatures above about minus 109 degrees Fahrenheit, so airlines need to have procedures in place to keep carbon dioxide from building up in the plane, Busch said.
Climate-controlled shipping containers are seen Dec. 10, 2020, at the United Airlines cargo facility at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago. The Pfizer coronavirus vaccine must be kept at temperatures much colder than standard freezer temperatures, though the Moderna vaccine doesn't need to be kept quite as cold. (E. Jason Wambsgans / Chicago Tribune)
A single Boeing 777 can carry up to a million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine. To unload, planes will park directly behind United’s cargo facility at O’Hare and lift the doors to the cargo holds, one at each end of the aircraft.
Containers roll one by one onto a platform that lowers them to vehicles waiting to drive them to the cargo facility, where they will be loaded directly onto refrigerated trucks for the next stage of their journey. The process can take less than half an hour.
“We don’t want it at the facility for a long time,” Busch said. “They want it at the final destination.”
American Airlines and Delta Air Lines, which also have experience transporting pharmaceuticals, have also been preparing for the rollout.
In mid-November, American began conducting trial flights between Miami and South America to test a vaccine’s thermal packaging and the airline’s handling process, American said in a news release. American said it has also been involved in transporting test vaccines and specimens used in COVID-19 vaccine trials. The airline received its first vaccine shipment by truck Sunday night at O’Hare, where it was loaded onto a Miami-bound Boeing 777 and was expected to be delivered to a U.S. territory in the Caribbean, according to a news release.
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Delta, which said it successfully transported test vaccines during the summer and fall, has a Vaccine Control Tower monitoring shipments around the clock. The airline has large warehouses and cooler facilities at airports in Atlanta, Detroit, Los Angeles, New York and Seattle that could handle flights where a vaccine must be stored at a controlled temperature, and 49 other airports that can handle pharmaceutical cargo.
The coronavirus pandemic has dramatically slowed air travel, but Mahmassani said he didn’t think airlines’ reduced flying would limit their ability to transport the vaccine. Throughout the pandemic, cargo-only flights have kept passenger aircraft that would otherwise be idle busy.
United said cargo revenues rose 50% during the third quarter, while passenger revenue dropped 84% compared with last year. The airline has flown more than 6,500 cargo-only flights since March 19. Cargo-only and passenger flights have collectively moved more than 401 million pounds of freight, including 154 million pounds of “vital” shipments like medical kits, PPE, pharmaceuticals and medical equipment, United said in October.
Temperature-sensitive cargo is kept in the cold storage area Dec. 10, 2020, at the United Airlines cargo facility at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago. (E. Jason Wambsgans / Chicago Tribune)
Shipping companies like UPS and FedEx, meanwhile, can carry vaccines by air and truck. While some vaccines will be flown in from Europe, Pfizer is also expected to ship some from its facility in Kalamazoo, Michigan, and a distribution center in Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin, near the Illinois border before sending them out to distribution sites, which will also need to develop plans for storing the vaccines at the required temperatures.
The trucking industry’s capacity is already tight, thanks to booming online sales during the pandemic that have risen even higher during the holiday season.
Vaccines will get priority over consumers’ holiday gifts, but that leaves less slack in the system if drivers get sick or equipment malfunctions, Mahmassani said.
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At a U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Transportation and Safety on Thursday, executives at UPS and FedEx said they reserved capacity for COVID-19 vaccines.
“There will be no higher priority shipments in our networks than these vaccine shipments,” said Richard Smith, regional president of the Americas and executive vice president at FedEx Express.
FedEx, which transported 80 million H1N1 vaccine doses in 2009, has more than 90 facilities across five continents designed to keep items cold during transit, including a 20,000-square-foot temperature-controlled storage center at its headquarters in Memphis, Tennessee. It is also expanding its network of ultralow-temperature freezers, Smith said at the hearing.
UPS, which provided logistics support for Pfizer’s COVID-19 trial and is supporting eight vaccines currently in clinical trials, invested in a “freezer farm” that can maintain the extra-frigid temperatures Pfizer’s vaccine requires, Wesley Wheeler, president of global health care at UPS, said at the hearing.
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The company can produce more than 24,000 pounds of dry ice each day at its Louisville, Kentucky, facility and plans to ship 40 pounds of dry ice to all Pfizer dosing locations after the vaccine arrives to keep it cold after delivery.
lzumbach@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-12-11--Chicago area’s weekend weather expected to be sloppy, but with little snowfall

Temperatures were expected to stay above freezing for most of the area into Saturday night , with some colder weather @ @ @ @ @ according to the National Weather Service .
Highs Saturday were expected to be in the @ @ @ @ @ part of the Chicago area , with temperatures at least 15 degrees lower in the @ @ @ @ @ as low as the low 20s overnight into Sunday .

A seasonally cool to cold and wet weekend was expected in much of the Chicago area, with some precipitation changing to snow in some far north and northwest suburbs, according to forecasters.
Temperatures were expected to stay above freezing for most of the area into Saturday night, with some colder weather forecast for Saturday night, according to the National Weather Service. Highs Saturday were expected to be in the low 50s in the southeast part of the Chicago area, with temperatures at least 15 degrees lower in the northwest suburbs, dropping to as low as the low 20s overnight into Sunday.
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There’s some uncertainty about whether any snow will accumulate in the Chicago area, but if it does, snowfall is most likely to hit only the farthest north and northwest suburbs, said weather service meteorologist Kevin Birk.
“Some of the far, far northwest suburbs might get some,” but areas nearer Chicago likely won’t, Birk said.
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The weather system hitting the Chicago area is part of a large series of storms expected to hit much of the Midwest this weekend.
“A sharp rain-to-snow line and varying precipitation rates continue to lead to a wide range of snowfall outcomes, with snowfall amounts hinging heavily on if the rain-to-snow line can advance far enough south Saturday morning before heavier precipitation diminishes,” the weather service said in a bulletin.
Active weather returns to the area through Sat. Widespread rain is expected this afternoon through tonight. Rain will then transition to snow from northwest to southeast on Sat., with some accumulation possible primarily north of I-80 and especially near the WI state line. pic.twitter.com/X2MxVktHFK — NWS Chicago (@NWSChicago) December 11, 2020
Area officials, including with the Illinois Department of Transportation, were prepping plows in the event the storms bring snow or a wintry mix.
As the rain falls from Friday night through early Sunday, there’s also expected to be significant lakefront flooding, according to the weather service.
A lakefront flood warning was in effect was in effect from midnight Friday through 3 a.m. Sunday for Lake County and northern Cook County, north of the Chicago city limits, while a lakefront flood watch was in effect for the Chicago shoreline and northern Indiana during the same time frame.
Waves of 10 to 14 feet could hit the lakefront north of the Chicago city limits, according to the weather service.
“Large waves combined with high lake levels are expected to lead to additional beach and shoreline erosion,” the weather service said. “Additionally, a one foot increase in the water levels is possible along river mouths, canals, and ports along Lake Michigan. Low-lying property including parking lots, parks, paths, lawns, and structures along the immediate lakeshore will likely be inundated.”
For more updates, check the Tribune’s weather page.


chicagotribune--2020-12-11--‘There’s a lot of history here’: Three-generation effort at Mount Greenwood Cemetery marks veterans’

‘There’s a lot of history here’: Three-generation effort at Mount Greenwood Cemetery marks veterans’ graves going back to Civil War

“ We go to official state military rosters and we work with pension files , ” Bailey said .
“ @ @ @ @ @ useful because a veteran may have served in more than one regiment .
Sometimes those @ @ @ @ @ names as well , which helps us identify people .
It can be tough to @ @ @ @ @ like John Smith .
”

Paula Everett, president of the Mt Greenwood Cemetery Association, stands in front of a monument dedicated to Civil War veteran Capt. James Brockway of Company C., 29th U.S. Colored Infantry. The monument is one of many Civil War grave monuments and markers designating the graves of Civil War veterans at Mount Greenwood Cemetery. (Susan DeGrane / Daily Southtown)
Last October, workers at Mount Greenwood Cemetery installed four new markers for Civil War veterans whose graves went unmarked for more than 100 years.
Scattered throughout the 79-acre expanse of elaborate gravestones and tall oaks, the four markers represent an effort at the cemetery to mark the graves of war veterans that spans three generations.
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“There’s a lot of history here,” said Paula Everett, president of the cemetery established in 1879 on the north side of 111th Street, between Western and Kedzie. “It’s like an open air museum. The travesties of the City (of Chicago) are here — the Eastland Disaster, the Spanish Flu, the Iroquois Theatre fire.”
And don’t forget the wars.
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Everett, a resident of Chicago’s Morgan Park neighborhood, became involved directly when her father, Paul T. Klenk Jr., a past president of the cemetery, died in 1992. She had worked as an assistant buyer for Marshall Fields, then started her family. As a mother with small children, she came on part-time. Her mother, Joan Klenk, also held ownership in the cemetery.
In the 1940s, Everett’s grandfather, Paul Klenk, an attorney, bought a significant portion of stock in the Mt. Greenwood Cemetery Association after handling the legal aspects of relocating graves to make way for construction of the Eisenhower Expressway.
The elder Klenk served three terms as mayor of Blue Island and two terms as assistant attorney general for the State of Illinois. A World War I veteran, he also organized Blue Island Post No. 5 of the American Legion.
Everett’s father, Paul T. Klenk, Jr. came into managing the cemetery after serving as a 2nd lieutenant and bombardier in the Army Air Corps during World War II.
Much like her father and grandfather, Everett carried on the cemetery’s efforts to honor veterans.
In 2007, the cemetery launched Operation Remembrance, an initiative to officially mark unmarked graves of U.S. Military Veterans. That year, Everett and Kim Demas were recognized for these efforts by Illinois Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn, who presented them with a Hometown Heroes Award.
Unmarked for more than 100 years, Andrew Pinney’s grave shows a recently installed grave marker at Mount Greenwood Cemetery representing his service for the Union in the Civil War. (Susan DeGrane)
Much of the cemetery’s remembrance effort has focused on obtaining markers for Civil War veterans who fought for the Union, according to David Bailey, a researcher for and past president of the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War.
“Paula has done a superb job of making sure Civil War vets were recognized,” he said. “In all she must have marked 90 or more graves, and I’ve helped her identify about a third of those.” Everett estimates she’s been involved in the marking of 100.
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Bailey said Everett reached out to him for help in 2013. He responded by researching and substantiating military records crucial to the application process for obtaining free markers from the United States Department of Veterans Affairs.
All veterans receiving free markers must have been honorably discharged, have no grave marker, or need a replacement marker.
“We go to official state military rosters and we work with pension files,” Bailey said. “Pension files can be especially useful because a veteran may have served in more than one regiment. Sometimes those files will list widows’ names as well, which helps us identify people. It can be tough to find veterans with common names like John Smith.”
For nearly 40 years, Bailey has helped verify records for Union troop members buried in southern Cook County, DuPage, Kane, Will and Kendall counties.
Last October, thanks to Everett and Bailey, Mount Greenwood Cemetery installed four new grave markers for Civil War veterans whose graves went unmarked for more than 100 years.
“Of course, many men died in the fighting and their families brought their bodies back home, but many survived and moved to the Chicago area looking for work,” Bailey said.
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That scenario applied to three of the four Civil War veterans whose graves were recently marked.
George W. Cone, who was born in Utica, New York, became a tailor in Chicago, according to a document included with the application for his marker. He served as a captain for Company A of the 146th New York Infantry and was discharged in 1862. He died in Chicago in 1900 at 63.
Paula Everett, president of the Mt. Greenwood Cemetery Association, stands next to a cannon monument located in the plot of the Grand Army of the Republic. (Susan DeGrane / Daily Southtown)
Coleman H. Watts, born in Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, would have been all of 16 years old when he entered the war in November 1861. He rose to first lieutenant in Company B, 3rd Pennsylvania Calvary, then transferred to Company L, 5th Pennsylvania Calvary. He was discharged May 28, 1865 and died in Chicago in 1896 at 51.
Andrew Pinney hailed from England and served from 1863 to 1865 as a private. He was transferred among various companies and divisions of the New York Infantry. He died in Chicago on April 12, 1909 at 61.
Nelson A. Richart from Ohio served with the Illinois Infantry from 1862 to 1865, as a private and sergeant. He was promoted to lieutenant but mustered out just three days later, July 13, 1865. He died in Chicago on Dec. 12, 1904, at 63.
Cone and Pinney rest near one another in the oldest section near the southeastern edge of the grounds.
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Further north, members of the Grand Army of the Republic (the Union Army) occupy a large plot.
The GAR plot also contains graves of related family members and houses a cannon monument installed in 2013.
Everett worked with Bailey and the General Philip H. Sheridan Camp No. 2 Chicago of the SUVCW to stage the dedication. The monument replaced a Civil War cannon that mysteriously disappeared from the plot in the 1980s, Everett said.
In all, the cemetery serves as final resting place for about 350 Civil War veterans, she said.
Beyond bolstering Mount Greenwood’s legacy of military markers, Everett supplied photos for a book called “Mt. Greenwood Cemetery,” which she co-authored with Margaret M. Kapustiak, a local historian.
The 2014 Arcadia Publishing photo book mentions plenty of local heroes, including fallen first responders and Civil War veterans like Captain James Brockway of Company C., 29th U.S. Colored Infantry.
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Brockway’s monument of white bronze stands at least 20 feet tall and dwarfs just about all others in the cemetery.
Mount Greenwood Cemetery isn’t the only local outdoor repository of history. Several old cemeteries converge nearby because the sandy soil of an ancient beach ridge made it easier to bury bodies, Everett said. Also, nearby rail lines allowed for convenient delivery of bodies, a practice that ended with the rise of automobiles.
To date, Mount Greenwood Cemetery remains about 20% unoccupied, but that could soon change.
“We’ve seen more activity lately,” said Everett who recently buried her 100-year-old mother, Joan, in the Klenk family plot. “As to whether this all relates to COVID-19 or not, we can’t be sure because we no longer receive information from Cook County about cause of death.”
Cause of death information can still be obtained through direct requests to Cook County. It also is retained by funeral homes.
Time will tell how this latest chapter in history will be recorded.
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Susan DeGrane is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.


chicagotribune--2020-12-11--COVID-19 in Illinois by the numbers: Here’s a daily update on cases, positivity rate and hospital da

COVID-19 in Illinois by the numbers: Here’s a daily update on cases, positivity rate and hospital data in your area

Among the metrics ( see below ) tracked under guidelines set by Gov .
J.B. Pritzker are the percentage of @ @ @ @ @ , the number of people hospitalized for COVID-19-like illnesses , and the capacity of hospitals @ @ @ @ @ state will decide how much or how little to restrict activities based on these metrics @

Note: With Chicago and Illinois moving into phase 5, the Tribune is no longer updating this data. If the state moves back into bridge phase, the Tribune we reassess. Daily metrics on COVID-19, like cases, deaths and hospitalizations, can be found here. And Daily metrics on the vaccination effort can be found here. More on where the coronavirus stands nationally and around the world can be found here.
To assess how different parts of Illinois are handling the COVID-19 pandemic, officials look at the state through the 11 regions of Emergency Medical Services. The city of Chicago is one region, for example, and the rest of Cook County is another.
Among the metrics (see below) tracked under guidelines set by Gov. J.B. Pritzker are the percentage of coronavirus tests that return positive, the number of people hospitalized for COVID-19-like illnesses, and the capacity of hospitals to take in new patients.The state will decide how much or how little to restrict activities based on these metrics. (Cases, deaths and tests data is as of Dec. 31).
• Check out the Tribune’s coronavirus coverage.
• Remembering the lives of those in Illinois who died from coronavirus.
• Other Chicago, suburbs and Illinois COVID-19 metrics.
• See how the governor’s plan to manage the regions works.
Source: Illinois Department of Public Health
Created by the Chicago Tribune dataviz team. On Twitter @chitribgraphics


chicagotribune--2020-12-11--COVID-19 cases in Illinois by ZIP code: Search for your neighborhood

Search below by street address , ZIP code or city , then click on the map to see the number @ @ @ @ @ .
The state is not providing data for any ZIP code with five cases or @ @

Note: With Chicago and Illinois moving into phase 5, the Tribune is no longer updating this data. If the state moves back into bridge phase, the Tribune we reassess. Daily metrics on COVID-19, like cases, deaths and hospitalizations, can be found here. And Daily metrics on the vaccination effort can be found here. More on where the coronavirus stands nationally and around the world can be found here.
Illinois releases the number of positive COVID-19 cases by ZIP code daily. The map below shows the cumulative cases for each area as well as other analysis of the data.
• Check out the Tribune’s coronavirus coverage.
• Tracking daily Illinois coronavirus deaths, cases and tests.
Search below by street address, ZIP code or city, then click on the map to see the number of confirmed and probable cases. The state is not providing data for any ZIP code with five cases or fewer.
Data as of June 10.
The map search tool above works best in Chrome or Firefox and may not perform consistently in Internet Explorer.
Note: Because of a coding error this map was displaying the incorrect rates for new cases in the last 7 days per 100,000 people — the issue should now be resolved.. The Tribune adjusted the data shown on the map below to focus on new cases, those the state tracked in the last 7 seven days. The totals for the entire pandemic are still available, but in the pop-up after tapping or clicking on a ZIP.


chicagotribune--2020-12-11--Daily Illinois coronavirus graphs: 190 new deaths, 9,420 new confirmed and probable cases and 104,44

Daily Illinois coronavirus graphs: 190 new deaths, 9,420 new confirmed and probable cases and 104,448 new test results

Illinois announced 9,420 new confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 Friday for a total of 832,951 .
The state also @ @ @ @ @ a total of 14,050 and 104,448 new test results for a total of 11.6 million @

Johns Hopkins University & Medicine tracked coronavirus cases, deaths and test totals from Jan. 22, 2020 through March 10, 2023, but is no longer providing this data. These charts will no longer be updated.
Check the Illinois Department of Public Health for the most up-to-date data for Illinois.
[ Remembering the lives of those in Illinois who died from coronavirus ]
Can’t see these charts? Go here.


chicagotribune--2020-12-11--Ridership for Chicago’s scooter pilot fell 20%, about 181,000 fewer trips than last year. Now city i

Ridership for Chicago’s scooter pilot fell 20%, about 181,000 fewer trips than last year. Now city is asking riders for input.

Since Aug. 12 , people have taken about 640,000 rides on scooters , a decrease from the 821,000 trips logged @ @ @ @ @ ran for four months , although the 2019 test covered an area a quarter of @ @ @ @ @ of the devices of this year ’ s pilot , according to initial data released @ @ @ @ @ s departments of Transportation and Business Affairs and Consumer Protection .

A woman on a electric scooter joins a pack of bicyclists as they zoom past Milwaukee Avenue near Ashland in Chicago during the morning rush hour, Aug. 13, 2019, (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)
With the four-month electric scooter pilot in Chicago drawing to an end Saturday, initial data released by the city shows ridership decreased more than 20% from last year as the coronavirus pandemic batters the transportation industry.
Since Aug. 12, people have taken about 640,000 rides on scooters, a decrease from the 821,000 trips logged last year. Both pilots ran for four months, although the 2019 test covered an area a quarter of the size with a quarter of the devices of this year’s pilot, according to initial data released Friday by the city’s departments of Transportation and Business Affairs and Consumer Protection.
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Delayed because of the pandemic, this year’s pilot allowed three companies — Lime, Spin and Bird — to operate and distribute 3,333 scooters each in Chicago. The city also increased the area in which scooter vendors could operate.
Trevor Morrin preps some of the 2,000 Spin electric scooters for transport at the warehouse on Aug. 10, 2020 in Chicago. (Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune)
Last year, the city’s pilot program allowed 10 companies to operate a total of 2,500 scooters in a 50 square-mile area, roughly bordered by Irving Park Road on the north, the South Branch of the Chicago River on the south, the city’s western border and Halsted Street.
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Though ridership was down for the second pilot, city officials said several changes this year helped reduced sidewalk clutter and residents’ complaints, and increased access on the South and West sides.
Companies were required to put 50% of the scooters on the South and West sides. About 160,000 rides, or a quarter of trips this year, took place in those areas, according to the city.
The city is asking for public input as it considers the future of scooters in Chicago. People can participate in the survey online through Jan. 7.


chicagotribune--2020-12-11--Champaign County murder suspect mistakenly released from prison arrested in south suburban Glenwood

Soon after White ’ s mistaken release , Heuerman said his department neglected to place a detainer on White with @ @ @ @ @ his return to Champaign County once he completed a sentence for illegal gun possession .
@ @ @ @ @ the sheriff said a further internal review of their processes showed the pending murder charge @ @ @ @ @ Department of Corrections .

A central Illinois man accused of murder who was mistakenly released from prison last month is back in custody after being arrested Thursday in south suburban Glenwood, authorities said.
Darrion White was arrested Thursday in the Chicago suburb of Glenwood by the U.S. Marshals Service, Champaign County Sheriff Dustin Heuerman said. White, 20, was released from Stateville Correctional Center in Joliet on Nov. 13.
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White is accused in the Aug. 28, 2018, fatal shooting of 16-year-old David Sankey of Champaign. Also charged in Sankey’s death is Jaquaveon Faust, 24, of Champaign.
Soon after White’s mistaken release, Heuerman said his department neglected to place a detainer on White with the Department of Corrections for his return to Champaign County once he completed a sentence for illegal gun possession. However, on Thursday, the sheriff said a further internal review of their processes showed the pending murder charge had been relayed to the Department of Corrections.
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Darrion White, 20, was arrested Dec. 10, 2020, in the Chicago suburb of Glenwood by the U.S. Marshals Service, Champaign County Sheriff Dustin Heuerman said. (Champaign County Crimestoppers / HANDOUT)
Although an internal miscommunication meant a detainer letter wasn’t included with the paperwork, Heuerman said a corrections representative told him the pending charge listed on the paperwork should have been enough to keep White from being released.
Glenwood police said in a message sent to village residents Thursday that they assisted in arresting White after he had “been in hiding for several weeks at different locations” and was arrested in the 500 block of Blackstone Avenue sometime before 2 p.m.
“The suspect has no prior connection nor ties to this area, properties, addresses, etc.,” according to the message. It appeared White had “not been in our (area) very long.”
Chicago Tribune staff contributed.


chicagotribune--2020-12-11--What’s it like to take the COVID-19 vaccine? Three local trial participants share their experiences.

“ A vaccine is our only way out of this , ” he said .
“ When this does get @ @ @ @ @ rolled out , I think it will be something we can all be very confident @ @ @ @ @ to be the silver bullet that takes us back to the pre-pandemic life that we @ @ @ @

Mayor Bill de Blasio bumps forearms with Tara Easter, a registered nurse at NYU-Langone Hospital who received the COVID-19 vaccine, Dec. 14, 2020, in New York. (Kevin Hagen / AP)
David Daly was a little bit nervous earlier this month as the syringe pricked his upper arm, the first injection he received as a volunteer in a local COVID-19 vaccine clinical trial.
The 43-year-old actuary from southwest suburban Lockport knows there is always some risk involved in helping test the safety and efficacy of any new drug.
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“But I think it is a pretty acceptable risk,” he said after his appointment at Rush University Medical Center, where he’s taking part in a study for a vaccine developed by the University of Oxford and the multinational pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca. “I’ve been impressed that even though it’s moved quickly, I think they’re still taking safety very seriously. They’re not shortcutting scientific protocols for the vaccine.”
Daly is among the roughly half-million Americans who have signed up to participate in various vaccine trials as scientists race to produce safe and effective immunizations to the coronavirus, which has so far killed more than 14,000 in Illinois and more than 1.5 million worldwide.
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Clinical research nurse Samantha Gatewood administers the second shot in an AstraZeneca vaccine trial to participant David Daly at Rush University Medical Center on Dec. 3, 2020. (E. Jason Wambsgans / Chicago Tribune)
The first COVID-19 shots outside of a clinical trial could be given in the Chicago area within days, after federal officials Friday night gave a Pfizer vaccine emergency use authorization; however, officials caution that fully vaccinating all adults will take much longer.
Even as some vaccines prepare to hit the market, researchers nationwide say there’s still a need for 1 million more clinical trial volunteers, whose bodies and experiences play a critical role in developing immunizations and bringing them to mass circulation.
More than 50 vaccines are being tested on humans in ongoing studies internationally, with about a dozen in the large-scale, later stages of development. Those trials will continue in the hopes of compiling more safety data and eventually producing enough immunizations to inoculate people around the globe. Participants will continue to be monitored long-term for health and safety data.
With most vaccines requiring two doses — an initial shot and then a booster — that could eventually be some 14 billion doses needed worldwide.
Several local vaccine volunteers say taking part in a trial is a chance to contribute to ending the death toll and economic devastation of the pandemic.
Gregory Bowman, a registered nurse who is also taking part in the trial at Rush, plans to encourage his own patients to get vaccinated, once they are eligible.
“If I’m pushing it on my patients, I’ve got to be willing to put myself out there as well,” he said. “I see this as an act of service.”
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Steve Dale, a certified animal behavior consultant and WGN radio show host, is participating in a trial at the University of Illinois at Chicago for a vaccine produced by biotechnology company Moderna. He said he’s in awe of the historical significance of a prospective new vaccine, a breakthrough for humanity.
“We’re living through history now,” he said. “I’m excited about what the future holds, for what science can bring us.”
As for Daly, he’s hopeful the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine and others will prove effective so the world can return to normal.
He longs to shake hands and hug loved ones again. To travel the globe. To be at a crowded bar on a Friday night.
“A vaccine is our only way out of this,” he said. “When this does get approval and it does get rolled out, I think it will be something we can all be very confident in. It is going to be the silver bullet that takes us back to the pre-pandemic life that we all want.”
Still recruiting
Like all vaccine trial participants, Daly doesn’t know whether the immunization or a placebo was injected into the muscle of his upper arm.
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For the study he’s part of, two-thirds of volunteers are given the vaccine and the other third is given a shot of saline, to control the experiment.
A randomized computer system determines who gets the vaccine versus who gets the placebo, and then alerts the pharmacist what to prepare and bring to the clinic. The study is double-blind, which means even the researchers don’t know who has what; later in the trial, it will be officially un-blinded so researchers can analyze results.
This is designed to prevent unconscious bias, said Dr. Beverly Sha, professor of medicine at Rush University Medical Center, who is leading the vaccine trial.
“If I told you that you got the vaccine and it was real, it might alter your behavior,” she said. “The risk of exposure to COVID might now be different among the people who know they got the vaccine versus those who know they didn’t.”
She added that patients or researchers could also minimize side effects unintentionally, because they really want the vaccine to be successful.
Daly had his first in-person appointment at Rush on Dec. 3, after a rigorous screening process, multiple phone interviews and going over lengthy health and safety information.
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Clinical research nurse Samantha Gatewood speaks with vaccine trial participant David Daly at Rush University Medical Center on Dec. 3, 2020. (E. Jason Wambsgans / Chicago Tribune)
The roughly 90-minute visit included a physical, a blood draw and a COVID-19 nasal swab test, as well as the first injection. The next day, he reported no side effects except minor arm soreness. He’s scheduled to receive the second shot in early January.
While Daly hopes he received the vaccine, he said he’s still taking the same precautions as he did before the trial.
“Social distance as much as possible, wearing a mask, hand-washing, good hygiene,” he said. “I don’t want to be walking around … thinking I’m immune and I really have two shots of saline in my arm.”
At the same time, his level of possible exposure to the virus might be greater than some because he works out at a public gym four or five times a week and frequently travels domestically on airplanes for work.
This could benefit the study, which seeks volunteers who are at a higher risk of infection, from health care workers to those living in congregate care facilities or multigenerational housing.
So far, more than 90 participants have been screened for the study at Rush, and most have received the first injection; to be eligible, volunteers must be over 18 and cannot have had a known COVID-19 infection, an impaired immune system, or be pregnant or breastfeeding.
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Sha said the study is still recruiting, particularly older volunteers and patients with underlying health conditions, as well as Black and Latino participants. The Oxford-AstraZeneca trial is expected to enroll some 30,000 participants at sites nationwide.
Globally, the study has had some high points — as well as some more tumultuous moments.
On Tuesday, an article in the medical journal the Lancet said the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine “has an acceptable safety profile and is efficacious against symptomatic COVID-19, with no hospital admissions or severe cases reported,” based on data out of the United Kingdom, Brazil and South Africa.
The second shot in an AstraZeneca vaccine trial at Rush University Medical Center. (E. Jason Wambsgans / Chicago Tribune)
But a recent manufacturing error raised questions and confusion about the vaccine’s dosing and efficacy, after one group of volunteers received a half-dose of the first vaccine; surprisingly, the participants given the lower dose appeared better off, with apparent 90% effectiveness compared with the group that got two full doses, where the vaccine appeared to be 62% effective.
“Of course, it’s generated a lot of questions among the patients and participants, and we don’t have all the answers, so that can be challenging,” Sha said, adding that patients at Rush were unaffected and are receiving full doses.
Earlier in the pandemic, testing was temporarily paused twice, each time after a participant developed illness; in one case, a volunteer was found to have undiagnosed multiple sclerosis, which was determined to be unrelated to the vaccine. National Institutes of Health Director Dr. Francis Collins has said the other case involved a spinal cord problem; the participant’s condition has since improved.
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Neither of those volunteers was part of the study at Rush, which didn’t start until after the second pause was lifted.
Collins in September described this kind of clinical hold on a study “not at all unprecedented.”
“This certainly happens in any large-scale trial where you have tens of thousands of people invested in taking part, and some of them may get ill,” he said. “And you always have to try to figure out is that because of the vaccine or were they going to get that illness anyway?”
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Bowman has seen the pain and devastation of the virus firsthand.
Early in the pandemic, he worked at a coronavirus drive-thru testing site at Rush, swabbing hundreds of patients under a tent between two hospital buildings. Since July, he’s been helping prevent COVID-19 outbreaks among the homeless at Chicago shelters.
“I observe a lot of human suffering as a consequence of this virus,” he said.
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Clinical research nurse Samantha Gatewood finishes administering the second shot in an AstraZeneca vaccine trial to participant Gregory Bowman at Rush University Medical Center on Dec. 3, 2020. (E. Jason Wambsgans / Chicago Tribune)
Bowman, 33, of the Humboldt Park neighborhood, said he decided to participate in the vaccine trial at Rush as “a service to my loved ones and my community.”
“We need a safe and effective vaccine to bring this pandemic to a close, and that’s not going to happen unless people are willing to volunteer for these trials,” he said.
Like most people, he longs for the day when he won’t have to wear a mask everywhere and can reconnect with friends and loved ones outside his bubble. His wife is from Brazil, and the pandemic has prevented them from visiting her family; they’ve had to miss important events, like the recent birth of their niece.
Bowman received his second shot on Dec. 3.
Except for a little tenderness at the injection site after the first shot, Bowman said he’s had no side effects. Sha said some patients have reported body aches or fevers for a day or two after receiving the injection.
“But it’s definitely not two-thirds of our patients that are reporting it,” she said.
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The trial is in phase 3, and the vaccine has already been given to about 10,000 patients and much data had already been compiled in earlier stages.
“I feel confident that AstraZeneca is following the right process for formulating the vaccine,” Bowman said. “I think it is moving faster than usual but that’s because we’re trying to bring this pandemic to a close.”
Vaccine hesitancy might prove to be a major public health challenge, with just 47% of Americans reporting that they plan to get immunized against COVID-19 once a vaccine is available; 26% say they don’t plan to get vaccinated and 27% are unsure, according to a poll released Wednesday by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research at the University of Chicago.
To assuage concerns, nine pharmaceutical companies issued a joint statement in September pledging a “commitment to developing and testing potential vaccines for COVID-19 with high ethical standards and sound scientific principles.”
‘Small cog in history’
Dale, who is part of the Moderna trial at the University of Illinois at Chicago, said he’s confident in the study’s safety protocols.
“I do believe that safety is paramount and the companies have made that clear,” he said. “My experience has been that they’re being incredibly careful every step of the way.”
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The East Lakeview neighborhood resident has heard from folks who are skeptical, who say they’ll wait to get a vaccine until others get it first, or who question the speed of vaccine development. Some have called him a hero for participating in the trial, and others have called him a fool.
“And some were ready to offer my obituary,” he said.
Dale received the first injection in mid-September. He didn’t recall feeling anxious during that visit, but when his blood pressure was taken during the physical, he said it was higher than ever before.
“I didn’t really feel nervous, but there must have been some trepidation on some level,” said Dale, who once wrote a column for the Tribune.
He got the booster shot in mid-October; he said he’s had no side effects following either injection.
“I’m very proud to be a part of this,” he said. “To be a small cog in history, to have participated in a very small way. If everybody said ‘I’ll wait for someone else to do this,’ then no one would.”
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As vaccines developed by companies like Moderna and Pfizer approach the finish line, this has raised an interesting ethical question regarding volunteers enrolled in other trials: Some have asked whether they’ll be able to get another vaccine that’s on the market once available, in case they received a placebo during the trial.
Sha said volunteers she works with can get another vaccine, but they would be encouraged to stay in the Oxford-AstraZeneca trial; researchers then would record that the participants were inoculated with another vaccine and continue collecting data.
“There is interest in knowing what happens to the antibody response in somebody who maybe did get AstraZeneca to start with and later gets Moderna or Pfizer,” she said.
Some medical experts say there are benefits to having multiple COVID-19 vaccines on the market, because some might have different advantages.
For example, while many other vaccines require deep freezer space, the one developed by Oxford and AstraZeneca only needs refrigeration, which could make it easier to store and circulate to rural areas and developing nations.
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“It’s an all-hands-on-deck situation,” Bowman said. “There are just a lot of resources being thrown at this problem, more than in ordinary times, which explains why we’ve been able to find what seems like, according to preliminary data, a safe and hopefully effective vaccine so quickly.”
The Associated Press contributed.
eleventis@chicagotribune.com