chicagotribune--2020-12-15--Lightfoot: ‘A mistake’ for downtown aldermen to oppose Michigan Avenue taxing district

“ And so the question isn ’ t to me , the question is to those aldermen who blocked the @ @ @ @ @ in their wards who are suffering and hurting and wanted some kind of relief and @ @ @ @ @ to do so , ” Lightfoot said .
“ What possible legitimate reason could there @ @ @

Mayor Lori Lightfoot on Tuesday called it “a mistake” for downtown aldermen to oppose her plan to fast-track a special property tax district for North Michigan Avenue, saying business owners on the Magnificent Mile want to pay into a fund to improve security following looting incidents there and coax shoppers back to the area during the pandemic.
The plan for the expedited extra tax charge to raise $761,000 annually from commercial property owners on Michigan north of the Chicago River got held in a City Council committee on Monday after downtown aldermen Brendan Reilly and Brian Hopkins spoke against it.
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Lightfoot on Tuesday said their opposition and their colleagues’ support of that opposition was “aldermanic prerogative at its worst,” referring to the City Council tradition of members of the body following the wishes of local aldermen on issues affecting their wards.
“And so the question isn’t to me, the question is to those aldermen who blocked the will of the business community in their wards who are suffering and hurting and wanted some kind of relief and were willing to tax themselves to do so,” Lightfoot said. “What possible legitimate reason could there be?”
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Reilly and Hopkins on Monday both said they didn’t think the sped-up process the mayor pushed gave enough time to get the pulse of the commercial property owners within the boundaries of the proposed district.
Pedestrians look at windows shattered by looters at the Timberland store on Michigan Avenue in downtown Chicago on Aug. 10, 2020. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)
And Reilly said that while business owners who serve on the board of the Magnificent Mile Association business group spoke in favor of the additional tax, many more business owners along North Michigan Avenue opposed it.
Reilly also noted over $200,000 of the proposed budget for the tax revenue was ticketed for administrative costs such as helping pay salaries for Magnificent Mile Association staff at a time many businesses are struggling to come up with the money to pay their dues to the group. The money would be better spent on security measures like bollards on sidewalks, he said.
The mayor had pitched the proposal as a way to improve safety and help convince shoppers to return to the Magnificent Mile despite the one-two punch of the coronavirus pandemic and two separate large-scale looting incidents there in the past several months.
The taxing district would need to be passed by the full City Council at least 10 days before a Dec. 29 deadline for the state to approve it, so Monday’s failure to get it out of committee will make it difficult to get it done this year.
jebyrne@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @_johnbyrne


chicagotribune--2020-12-15--Man charged with firing rifle shot in South Loop Metra station allegedly told authorities ‘he does s

Man charged with firing rifle shot in South Loop Metra station allegedly told authorities ‘he does stupid stuff when he drinks’

Police interviewed Kimbrough ’ s wife , who identified her husband from the surveillance .
Kimbrough later made contact with @ @ @ @ @ , saying he knew police were looking for him , that he wanted to turn @ @ @ @ @ he does stupid stuff when he drinks , ” Schieve said .

Surveillance video released by the FBI of a man taking a rifle out of a backpack and firing a shot Dec. 1, 2020 at the McCormick Place Metra station in Chicago. (Chicago Tribune Handout)
A man arrested for firing a single shot from a collapsible rifle at a South Loop Metra station told authorities “he does stupid stuff when he drinks,” prosecutors said Tuesday.
Shawn Kimbrough’s alleged statement following the Dec. 1 shooting at the McCormick Place Metra station appeared to fall flat with Judge Mary C. Marubio, who ordered him held on $500,000 bail, plus house arrest, during a hearing broadcast on YouTube.
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“This statement,” Marubio said, “is an understatement. This isn’t the type of accidental discharge that we sometimes see in bond court. This is a very deliberate set of actions.”
The judge said her high bail was due to the danger such a shooting posed, as well as “the amount of effort it took for him to discharge that gun in the manner he did.”
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Surveillance video of a man the FBI says fired a shot at the McCormick Place Metra station about 10 a.m. Dec. 1, 2020. (FBI)
Kimbrough, 40, of Chicago’s University Village/Little Italy neighborhood, faces charges of aggravated unlawful use of a weapon, possession of a firearm with a revoked firearm owner’s identification card and reckless discharge of a firearm.
Kimbrough was the subject of an FBI community alert after the agency released video and still images of the man captured on surveillance at the Metra platform in the South Loop. He turned himself in to authorities Monday after negotiating terms through his private attorney.
In court, prosecutors told the judge that Metra cameras caught Kimbrough assembling a Kel-Tec SU-16 rifle on the platform and firing a shot across the rail tracks at a high concrete wall before breaking it back down and “stumbling” away.
Before the shooting, Kimbrough told a Metra conductor that he had a gun in his backpack, but the conductor — who suspected that Kimbrough had been drinking — didn’t believe him, said Assistant State’s Attorney Jocelyn Schieve.
Authorities locally and around the country have worked in coordination with federal authorities to prevent possible domestic threats following a year of anxieties related to the pandemic, police use of force, looting and the presidential election.
The FBI’s domestic terrorism task force joined the investigation after the shot was fired around 10:45 a.m., but found no credible links to terrorism. An anonymous tip led authorities to Kimbrough, who was visiting his father in the Carolinas, according to his attorney Jeff Aprati.
Police interviewed Kimbrough’s wife, who identified her husband from the surveillance. Kimbrough later made contact with a federal agent by phone, saying he knew police were looking for him, that he wanted to turn himself in and that “he does stupid stuff when he drinks,” Schieve said.
Authorities later recovered the rifle from inside a home safe after Kimbrough provided them with a key.
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Kimbrough’s FOID card had been revoked following a misdemeanor gun conviction from an incident in August 2019. He allegedly brandished a handgun on the street and asked a tourist whether he could take out a sniper at the Marina City building downtown, prosecutors said.
Kimbrough’s attorney said his client was laid off from his longtime catering job and now works for a company caring for the elderly and disabled.
He was expected to return to court on Dec. 23.


chicagotribune--2020-12-15--Chicago alderman fined by city’s Ethics Board for representing former colleague in criminal case

The Board of Ethics ruled Monday that Brookins representing Moreno in the case runs afoul of an ethics package Lightfoot @ @ @ @ @ that prohibits aldermen and other city employees from working on cases “ where the representation @ @ @ @ @ in an adverse effect on city revenue or finances , or affect the relative tax @ @ @ @ @ , or welfare of any City residents .
”

Howard Brookins has been alderman in the 21st Ward since 2003. (Erin Hooley / Chicago Tribune)
The Chicago Board of Ethics has fined an alderman $5,000 for defending a former City Council colleague in a criminal case, saying doing so violates a city government ethics rule Mayor Lori Lightfoot pushed through last year.
South Side Ald. Howard Brookins, 21st, an attorney, is representing former Ald. Joe Moreno, who faces charges of insurance fraud, disorderly conduct and obstruction of justice for a case involving him allegedly falsely reporting his car stolen.
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The Board of Ethics ruled Monday that Brookins representing Moreno in the case runs afoul of an ethics package Lightfoot passed through the City Council that prohibits aldermen and other city employees from working on cases “where the representation of the client may result in an adverse effect on city revenue or finances, or affect the relative tax burden or health, safety, or welfare of any City residents.”
WTTW reporter Heather Cherone first reported that the Ethics Board was investigating Brookins’ involvement in the case.
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Brookins has made no secret of his opposition to the rule. In fall 2019, he asked the Ethics Board to reconsider its interpretation of the law to apply to criminal cases like Moreno’s. The Ethics Board did not change its interpretation.
On Tuesday, Brookins said he was “dumbfounded” by the Ethics Board’s ruling. Brookins said he didn’t know they were going to rule on his case, though Ethics Board Executive Director Steve Berlin said Brookins’ attorney had been notified.
Brookins said he was considering introducing a resolution to the City Council to clarify that the law should not apply to cases where police officers aren’t direct parties to the case. “In a situation where an officer might just take a police report, I don’t see why they should deem that some kind of conflict,” Brookins said.
Brookins also could appeal the $5,000 fine to the Cook County Circuit Court. “I’m considering all my options,” he said Tuesday.
jebyrne@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @_johnbyrne


chicagotribune--2020-12-15--Column: It Ain’t Over ’Til It’s Ov ...: A new poem about Donald Trump

This is the latest installment , and close to the last , of my four-year rhyming chronicle of the presidency @ @ @ @ @ , as always , on his words and acts .

President Donald Trump gestures while departing the White House in Washington on Dec. 12, 2020, en route to the Army-Navy football game at the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, New York. (Stefani Reynolds/The New York Times)
This is the latest installment, and close to the last, of my four-year rhyming chronicle of the presidency of Donald Trump, based, as always, on his words and acts.
IT AIN’T OVER TIL IT’S OV …
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I’ll never, ever say I lost
That’s cause I never lose
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No matter what the voters say
No matter who they choose.
.
‘Cause losing is a loser’s game
And winning’s what I do
No matter how electors vote
Despite the lies they spew.
________
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The Chicago Tribune publishes a variety of columnists. Columns are opinion content that reflect the views of the writers and not necessarily the Chicago Tribune
________
Six weeks ago — the good old days —
It was Election Day
The day I won a landslide, folks,
No matter what they say.
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.
And since that day I’ve fought this theft
A hero waging war!
I’ll never give my White House up
Hey, losing’s for Al Gore.
.
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Lifts TV remote, punches button.
.
I sit here at my battle post
In front of my TV
I’m gonna switch the channel, folks,
Cause Fox abandoned me.
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.
I get the news from Newsmax now
They’re not afraid of truth
They know that there was widespread fraud
Inside the voting booth.
.
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They know that I’m no loser,
That the Deep State’s run amok
They know that they’ll get super rich
By saying lib’rls suck.
.
They feed my friends and allies
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With a diet full of fear …
Oh, sorry, what’s this in my eye?
Oh, could it be a tear?
.
For weeks my allies cheered me
Led by Rudy and his goons
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The Greatest TV Show on Earth!
A cast of clowns and loons.
.
The GOP stood by my side
Right to the highest court
I really thought I’d win it there
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It was my last resort.
.
Et tu, Ms. Coney Barrett?
Oh, et tu, young Brett and Neil?
I named you so you’d help me
Yet you will not help me steal?
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.
The “college” of “electors” met —
“Elector” equals “cheat” —
A college full of honest men
Would know I can’t be beat.
.
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Those Texans stood beside me, tho,
Until the very last
Alas, their votes were not enough
When all the dice were cast.
.
And so I sit here fighting —
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Meaning tweeting up a storm —
THIS FAKE ELECTION CANNOT STAND! —
Defying ev’ry norm.
.
The country’s new fake president
He gave a lying speech
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He said I’ve flouted rule of law —
He’s just Obama’s leech.
.
He talked about the COVID dead
As if I were to blame
In fact, when truth is told you’ll see
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I won the COVID game!
.
Switches back to Fox.
.
But now the walls are closing in
I can’t believe it’s done
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Et tu, old Mitch McConnell?
Even you say Biden won?
.
Et tu, dear Comrade Putin?
Even you are hailing Joe?
I thought that we were soul mates, Vlad,
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I thought you were my bro.
.
Sniffles.
.
I’ve heard it said that I’m depressed
Some say that I’ve gone nuts
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They call me Lear, the raving king
But what I’ve got is guts!
.
Got guts to stoke supporters’ fears
And guts to tell a lie
And guts to hope my biggest fans
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Are set to fight and die.
.
And guts to keep resisting
And to keep up this charade
Cause if I leave I’ll never get
Another huge parade.
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.
The evil’s all around me now
This theft has gone so far
At least I’ve rid myself of pests —
Like weas’lly William Barr.
.
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Barr said that there’s no widespread fraud
He really let me down
And so did my elections chief —
Chris Krebs, that lying clown.
.
Sighs.
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.
The White House tree is shining bright
And Christmas Eve is near
So here’s my wish to Santa — Please!
I want to stay right here!
.
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Yes, all I want for Christmas
Is for you to say I won!
And then I’ll get to keep my house
This power is such fun!
.
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Nods off. Jerks awake.
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.
But Rudy’s got the ‘rona now
And I could use a nap
Perhaps I should get packing soon —
Hey, where’s that Bubble Wrap?
mschmich@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-12-15--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 .

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chicagotribune--2020-12-15--Prosecutors drop 6 more cases with links to disgraced former Chicago police sergeant

The six men whose cases were cleared Tuesday all alleged they were framed by Watts and his officers , who @ @ @ @ @ racket out of the Ida B .
Wells homes on the South Side .
All @ @ @ @ @ sentences by the time Judge LeRoy Martin Jr. formally threw out their convictions .

Cook County prosecutors on Tuesday agreed to drop six more convictions connected to disgraced ex-police Sgt. Ronald Watts, bringing to more than 100 the total number of thrown out Watts-related cases.
The six men whose cases were cleared Tuesday all alleged they were framed by Watts and his officers, who for years ran a protection racket out of the Ida B. Wells homes on the South Side. All six had already completed their sentences by the time Judge LeRoy Martin Jr. formally threw out their convictions.
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Some 80 individuals have had their names cleared in the Watts cases, according to prosecutors, adding up to more than 100 total convictions.
David Holmes was in the back seat of a truck outside the Wells homes in May 2007 when Watts grabbed him out of the car and pinned phony charges on him, Holmes’ attorney, Joshua Tepfer, said in court.
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Former Chicago police Sgt. Ronald Watts, right, leaves the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse in 2013 after being sentenced to prison. (Phil Velasquez / Chicago Tribune)
Watts had been “promising for months before that if he did not pay him, he’d fabricate a drug case, and on that day that’s exactly what he did,” Tepfer said.
Cook County prosecutors have been running a broad investigation into Watts-related cases, and attorneys like Tepfer have pushed hard for further exonerations.
In November 2017, they conducted what was believed to be the county’s first mass exoneration, when 15 men had their Watts-related cases dropped at once. Similar cases have been dropped in similar fashion in the years since.
Assistant State’s Attorney Nancy Adduci said in court Tuesday that prosecutors had lost confidence in some of the evidence underlying the six convictions and requested that they be tossed out “in the interest of justice.”
State’s Attorney Kim Foxx, who was sworn in for a second term earlier this month, made her office’s record of exonerations a centerpiece of her successful reelection campaign.
“It is always the right time to do the right thing and never too late to deliver justice for those who have been victimized by the criminal actions of those entrusted to protect the community,” Foxx said in an emailed statement.
Watts reigned over a decadelong run of corruption centered largely on the Wells homes. He and his crew were accused of operating a protection racket, forcing residents and drug dealers to pay bribes or face bogus charges.
Watts and Officer Kallatt Mohammed were finally arrested in 2012 after they shook down a drug courier who actually was an FBI informant. Watts was sentenced to 22 months in prison and moved to Las Vegas after he was released.
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In lawsuits involving him, Watts has invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination dozens of times, according to court records.
Fifteen Chicago police officers tied to Watts were placed on desk duty pending an investigation into their conduct. Cook County prosecutors have said they will no longer rely on 10 officers who had close ties to Watts, citing concerns about their credibility.
mcrepeau@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-12-15--Wisconsin man who stabbed 4 family members is ordered committed for life

Adam Roth , 36 , of Waukesha , was found not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect in @ @ @ @ @ said was linked to his concerns about coronavirus .
He told a detective the day @ @ @ @ @ “ was coming and I had to save them .
”

WAUKESHA, Wis. — A Wisconsin man who was obsessively concerned about the coronavirus pandemic has been ordered to spend the rest of his life in a mental health institution for stabbing four of his family members, two of them fatally.
Adam Roth, 36, of Waukesha, was found not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect in the attack, which authorities said was linked to his concerns about coronavirus. He told a detective the day after the stabbing that coronavirus “was coming and I had to save them.”
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In March, Roth and his wife, Dominique Roth, were in the kitchen eating when Adam began stabbing Dominique, according to a criminal complaint. When Dominique’s mother, Gilane Popanda, and Gilane’s other daughters, Desiree and Deidre, told him to stop, he “turned on everybody,” the complaint said.
Dominique Roth, 34, her sister, Deidre Popanda, 26, and a family dog died from their injuries. Desiree Popanda, 36, and Gilane Popanda, 62, also suffered significant injuries in the stabbing, the Journal Sentinel reported.
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Waukesha County Deputy District Attorney Ted Szczupakiewicz asked for a lifetime commitment for Roth during Monday’s sentencing hearing, requesting institutional care as opposed to conditional release.
Adam Roth, in an undated photo provided by the Waukesha County Sheriff's Department. (AP)
“There is clear and convincing evidence that if Mr. Roth would be conditionally released, he would pose a significant risk. And that’s not a risk, at this point, I think anyone would hope the court would take,” he said.
Roth’s attorney, Cameron Weitzner, did not challenge the prosecution’s requested sentence.
“This case is about an individual who is suffering from mental illness and was suffering in a way that I don’t think any of us can understand,” Weitzner said.
Roth earlier pleaded guilty but not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect to two counts of first-degree intentional homicide and two counts of attempted first-degree intentional homicide.


chicagotribune--2020-12-15--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--2020-12-15--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--2020-12-15--Daily Illinois coronavirus graphs: 117 new deaths, 7,359 new confirmed and probable cases and 92,922

Daily Illinois coronavirus graphs: 117 new deaths, 7,359 new confirmed and probable cases and 92,922 new test results

Illinois announced 7,359 new confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 Tuesday for a total of 863,477 .
The state also @ @ @ @ @ a total of 14,509 and 92,922 new test results for a total of 11.96 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--2020-12-15--Chicago administers first 5 doses of coronavirus vaccines

In April , he told the Tribune the grueling decision to isolate himself from his two school-age daughters was the @ @ @ @ @ .
Though Hooks joined them for socially distant activities such as bike riding and street @ @ @ @ @ meals shared , no watching movies together on the couch .

Laquitta Boyd, holds her 6-year-old daughter Venisha while receiving her first COVID-19 vaccination at a back-to-school health fair hosted by RUSH University Medical Center at the Salvation Army Freedom Center on July 30, 2022, in Chicago. (John J. Kim / Chicago Tribune)
Five front-line medical workers received the vaccine against COVID-19 in Chicago on Tuesday morning, marking an important milestone in the fight against the coronavirus.
“What we just witnessed is history in the making,” Mayor Lori Lightfoot said during a ceremony at Loretto Hospital in the city’s hard-hit Austin community.
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The first person to receive the vaccine was Dr. Marina Del Rios, from the University of Illinois health system.
Chicago public health Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady led a small ceremony for five recipients during which she emphasized the vaccine’s safety, saying it went through the proper channels and scientific monitoring.
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She also discussed the process used to store it. Officials gave five doses to start, because that’s how many are in a vial, she said.
After the first vaccination, the room applauded.
Del Rios said workers had been anxious for this day to come. Front-line medical workers have lost friends and family while worrying about their ability to keep patients safe in overcrowded hospitals under challenging conditions.
“We carry on, doing the best we can with the resources we have,” she said.
Mark Hooks, an emergency department nurse at Loretto, was the third person — and first Illinois man — to receive the vaccination.
In April, he told the Tribune the grueling decision to isolate himself from his two school-age daughters was the hardest part of his job. Though Hooks joined them for socially distant activities such as bike riding and street hockey, there were no meals shared, no watching movies together on the couch.
“There is a lot of Zoom and a lot of Houseparty, but it’s just not the same,” he said. “Even harder than being scared about coming to work every day is not being able to be with them.”
Although Lightfoot hailed the vaccine on Tuesday as “the beginning of the end,” she warned residents not to let their guard down. Residents must continue social distancing, staying at home and avoiding unnecessary travel, including canceling traditional holiday plans, Lightfoot said.
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“While we can see light at the end of the tunnel, we are still in the tunnel,” she said.
After Thanksgiving, there was an increase in the COVID-19 positivity rate because not enough people followed the rules, Lightfoot said.
“COVID-19 is still real,” she said.
Lightfoot also noted the challenges of providing vaccines, saying there’s a “trust deficit” among Black and Latino residents, but noted it’s important for those communities to get the shot.
“Black folks, my Latinx bothers and sisters, we are the ones who are most disproportionately suffering from this virus,” she said.
The mayor also said the city is working closely with community organizations as part of an effort to boost public trust.
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Even as Lightfoot and Arwady praised the vaccine, they emphasized that it would be months before it’s widely available to residents and curbing COVID-19 will take time.
“We’re probably going to be at it for another year before this virus is in the rearview mirror,” Arwady said.
gpratt@chicagotribune.com
sstclair@chicagotribune.com


chicagotribune--2020-12-15--COVID-19 vaccinations begin in the Chicago area

It took almost a year , but a new owner paid $ 1.585 million in 2012 for the right to @ @ @ @ @ of the red-brick Winnetka Georgian immortalized in `` Home Alone . ''
Almost 30 years @ @ @ @ @ the movie changed the neighborhood — but they ’ re OK with it .
Read @ @ @


chicagotribune--2020-12-15--Hammond man charged with murder escapes from transport van in Gary

An agent from REDI Transports , of Green Bay , Wisconsin , was transporting Taylor from Texas , when he @ @ @ @ @ 35th and Grant Street in Gary , according to a release from the Lake County @ @ @ @ @ The agent called Gary police , and the Lake County Sheriff ’ s Department was @ @ @ @ @ search for Taylor , the release said .
Lake County Sheriff ’ s Department officers @ @ @ @ @ with the Lake County Aviation Unit helicopter and K-9 unit , according to the release @

A 22-year-old man charged with murder has escaped in Gary while being extradited from Texas.
Leon Taylor escaped about 3 p.m. Monday in Gary from a transport van operated by a private company, said the Lake County Sheriff’s Department.
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Taylor, of Hammond, is described as 6 feet tall and about 162 pounds. He has hazel eyes and brown hair. He is wanted on a murder charge for a homicide in East Chicago.
An agent from REDI Transports, of Green Bay, Wisconsin, was transporting Taylor from Texas, when he escaped in the area of 35th and Grant Street in Gary, according to a release from the Lake County Sheriff’s Department. The agent called Gary police, and the Lake County Sheriff’s Department was requested to assist in the search for Taylor, the release said. Lake County Sheriff’s Department officers responded to the scene along with the Lake County Aviation Unit helicopter and K-9 unit, according to the release.
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Details of the escape were not released.
Taylor was wearing a chain around his midsection, handcuffs and a restraint on his leg. The sheriff’s office said he faces a murder charge in East Chicago and was being taken to the Lake County Jail in Crown Point.
He is known to frequent Gary, East Chicago and Hammond, the release said.
The sheriff’s office and Gary police helped search for Taylor. A police helicopter and police dogs also were called in.


Cabrini-Green rowhouses


chicagotribune--2020-12-16--Daywatch: Illinois may have avoided post-Thanksgiving COVID surge, Pritzker lays out $700M in cuts a

Daywatch: Illinois may have avoided post-Thanksgiving COVID surge, Pritzker lays out $700M in cuts and Southbank developer doubles down on luxury

Meanwhile , Chicago updated its quarantine list on Tuesday .
The city not only moved more than a dozen states @ @ @ @ @ order designation , but officials also announced that people returning from those areas only need @ @ @ @ @ now .
Here ’ s everything you need to to know about the order .

Good morning, Chicago. On Tuesday, state officials announced 7,359 new confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 and 117 additional fatalities. Illinois medical workers started receiving their initial doses of the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine on Tuesday, and the FDA said that its initial review confirmed the effectiveness and safety of a second vaccine.
Meanwhile, Chicago updated its quarantine list on Tuesday. The city not only moved more than a dozen states to its most severe travel order designation, but officials also announced that people returning from those areas only need to quarantine for 10 days now. Here’s everything you need to to know about the order.
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Also, Tribune reporter Darcel Rockett will be asking two physicians reader questions about COVID-19 on Facebook Live this afternoon, at 12:30 p.m. Here’s how to tune in.
Here’s more coronavirus news and other top stories you need to know to start your day.
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Gov. J.B. Pritzker looks on as Dr. Ngozi Ezike, director of the Illinois Department of Public Health, speaks to reporters Dec. 15, 2020, after a nurse administered five Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccinations at OSF St. Francis Medical Center in Peoria. (Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Chicago Sun-Times )
Nearly three weeks after Thanksgiving, no dramatic post-holiday surge in COVID-19 has emerged in the latest state data, although some hopeful trends seemed to stall after the long weekend.
“We haven’t seen something significant to talk about now,” the state’s health director, Dr. Ngozi Ezike, told reporters Monday. “We’ll see for sure in this coming week. ... We’ll keep our fingers crossed that maybe we’re not going to see a big bump.”
Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker speaks during a daily news conference regarding the coronavirus pandemic and other issues on Nov. 4, 2020, at the Thompson Center in Chicago. (Erin Hooley / Chicago Tribune)
Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker laid out more than $700 million in cuts Tuesday to deal with a projected $3.9 billion budget deficit, contending Republicans need to offer their own plan and blaming them for playing a role in destabilizing state finances even before the pandemic sent tax revenues crashing.
Then-Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg, right, greets former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, left, on Feb. 7, 2020, in the spin room after participating in the Democratic presidential primary debate at St. Anselm College in Manchester, New Hampshire. (Charles Krupa / AP)
Former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg will be nominated by President-elect Joe Biden to serve as secretary of transportation, making him likely to become the first openly LGBTQ Cabinet secretary confirmed by the U.S. Senate.
The historic choice of Buttigieg, however, dealt a blow to former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, whose behind-the-scenes pursuit of the transportation post was met with vocal opposition from top progressives and African Americans within the Democratic Party over his City Hall response to the 2014 police murder of Black teenager Laquan McDonald.
Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot holds a news conference Nov. 24, 2020, at City Hall. (Terrence Antonio James / Chicago Tribune)
Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s Law Department attempted in court this week to block local news station WBBM-Ch. 2 from airing body camera footage of Chicago police officers raiding an innocent woman’s home and handcuffing her while she was naked.
Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 100 APRIL: Scherina Seaton, from left, an ICU nurse at Loretto Hospital; Carol Bailey, a respiratory therapist at OSF Little Company of Mary Medical Center; and Adam Gomez, emergency department technician at Loretto Hospital, are all front-line workers during the coronavirus pandemic. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune)
As the coronavirus began to menace the region in March, most Chicago-area residents took refuge inside their houses to follow the governor’s stay-at-home order. Tribune photographers, as they always do, stayed on the job.


chicagotribune--2020-12-16--Man charged with firing rifle shot in South Loop Metra station allegedly told authorities ‘he does s


chicagotribune--2020-12-16--Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s administration tried to block TV station from airing body camera footage of p

Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s administration tried to block TV station from airing body camera footage of police raid on wrong home

Previously , the Illinois attorney general ’ s office ruled the City Council violated the state ’ s open meetings @ @ @ @ @ series of conference calls with Lightfoot during the early days of the coronavirus pandemic .
@ @ @ @ @ to release the inspector general ’ s report on the night former police Superintendent Eddie @ @ @ @ @ his car after drinking at a downtown bar known for heavy pours , despite calls @ @ @ @ @ and some aldermen to do so .

Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s Law Department attempted in court this week to block local news station WBBM-Ch. 2 from airing body camera footage of Chicago police officers raiding an innocent woman’s home and handcuffing her while she was naked.
The city also filed a request to have the woman, Anjanette Young, sanctioned for allegedly violating a confidentiality order.
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Lightfoot officials made the extraordinary request to prevent a television station from airing a news report in an emergency court filing Monday evening, which a federal judge rejected. The courts long have ruled against efforts to prevent news companies from publishing reports, saying it’s an unconstitutional violation of the First Amendment.
CBS, which has reported extensively on Chicago police officers raiding the wrong home, aired the interview with Young and body camera footage late Monday.
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But before the report aired, Lightfoot lawyers wrote in a filing that Young received the video as part of her lawsuit against the city and released it to CBS despite a federal judge’s protective order.
Because of that, Lightfoot lawyers argued that Young should be sanctioned by the court.
Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot holds a news conference Nov. 24, 2020, at City Hall. (Terrence Antonio James / Chicago Tribune)
Asked at an unrelated news conference on Tuesday whether she supports sanctions against the woman, Lightfoot told reporters, “I can’t comment on that. A federal judge put rules in place. It’s for that judge to determine whether or not that was appropriate.”
The mayor also tried to put distance between herself and the incident, saying the raid took place before she was elected, even though the city kept the video secret under her administration. Later, Lightfoot released a statement saying she “had no knowledge” of the matter involving Young until Tuesday.
“I had a very emotional reaction to what was depicted on the video as I imagine that many people did,” Lightfoot said in a release, which did not address why her administration was trying to punish the woman for allegedly sharing the video.
Late Tuesday evening, law department spokeswoman Kathleen Fieweger released a statement saying the city felt “an obligation” to report that the video had been shared despite a confidentiality order. The statement noted that the judge would be setting a hearing soon “regarding the lawyer’s alleged conduct,” though the law department’s request for sanctions singled out “the plaintiff.”
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Mayor Rahm Emanuel famously fought to keep secret a video showing white police Officer Jason Van Dyke shooting Black teenager Laquan McDonald 16 times, but a county judge ordered his administration to release the video. He has since been dogged by accusations that he covered up the scandal to preserve his 2015 reelection campaign, an allegation he’s denied.
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Chicago has since instituted a rule allowing the release of police shooting videos and audio within 60 days, but footage from other incidents such as the raid on Young’s home can be kept secret for months or even years.
In an interview with the Tribune, Young’s attorney, Keenan Saulter, criticized the city for its handling of the situation. He said Young first filed a Freedom of Information Act request seeking copies of the footage in November 2019.
Chicago police initially asked for a copy of her driver’s license, before denying the woman’s request, saying the matter remains under investigation. Saulter said he believes the city’s motivation was more about keeping an embarrassing incident secret.
“This city has a history of attempting to cover up unfavorable video,” Saulter said. “That’s all we’re dealing with here.”
Saulter said the city “should focus a lot more on the conduct of its officers than trying to cover up the evidence of poor policing” and criticized officials for cherry-picking which videos it releases and which it withholds.
“The problem in this instance, in my opinion, is when the city decides that a body camera or dash camera video supports their narrative, they release it, sometimes immediately, and certainly it’s not a prohibition to release it then because something is still under investigation,” Saulter said.
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In the city’s court filing seeking to prevent the footage from being aired, Lightfoot lawyers said they objected to providing Young with a copy of the recordings on the raid at her home because they believed it “was an attempt to provide the media with the body worn camera to paint an inaccurate picture of what happened during the subject search warrant.”
Lightfoot lawyers said they were concerned it “would be shared with the media in a salacious and unfair manner designed to elicit a reactionary response, which carries the risk of poisoning the public’s view of the case.”
During her run for mayor, Lightfoot campaigned on a pledge to “bring in the light” and promised to boost transparency at City Hall and reform local government. Since taking office, however, Lightfoot has faced criticism over her handling of some key open government issues.
Previously, the Illinois attorney general’s office ruled the City Council violated the state’s open meetings law when it held a series of conference calls with Lightfoot during the early days of the coronavirus pandemic. Lightfoot also has repeatedly refused to release the inspector general’s report on the night former police Superintendent Eddie Johnson was found asleep in his car after drinking at a downtown bar known for heavy pours, despite calls from activists, media outlets and some aldermen to do so.
Lightfoot officials also sought to keep secret a top aide’s email about what he called “The Bet” from just before the Chicago Teachers Union went on strike.
“The Bet: 3 cigars and a bottle of scotch of the winner’s choosing. Under: Strike ends before next Weds. Over: Strike extends past Weds,” the aide wrote in the email, which had “confirming our agreement” in the subject line.
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Lightfoot officials later said it was a joke and denied the mayor bet on the strike. But they fought to keep the email secret, denying a Tribune open records request while citing exemptions to the Illinois Freedom of Information Act that protect policymaking discussions and attorney-client privilege.
The Illinois attorney general’s office ruled the redaction improper and ordered the email’s release.
gpratt@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @royalpratt


chicagotribune--2020-12-16--Coronavirus in Illinois updates: First COVID-19 vaccinations in state given as 7,359 new cases and 1

Coronavirus in Illinois updates: First COVID-19 vaccinations in state given as 7,359 new cases and 117 additional deaths reported Tuesday

“ I know these people are helping for some of those later or middle adopters to say ‘ Hey , @ @ @ @ @ just like me , who does the same work do , is from my community @ @ @ @ @ done , that ’ s from my state , ’ `` she said .
“ @ @ @ @ @ there will be a big push toward later , maybe in the spring… And so @ @ @ @ @ surge of people wanting the vaccine a little bit later , but I still think @ @ @ @ @ people now , so this will be a continual process for much of 2021 .
@

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Laquitta Boyd, holds her 6-year-old daughter Venisha while receiving her first COVID-19 vaccination at a back-to-school health fair hosted by RUSH University Medical Center at the Salvation Army Freedom Center on July 30, 2022, in Chicago. (John J. Kim / Chicago Tribune)
Illinois medical workers started receiving their initial doses of the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine that federal regulators approved for emergency use late last week, a day after the state received its first shipments of the vaccine and a day after many states began their immunizations.
Inoculations were given Tuesday morning at Loretto Hospital in the Austin community, where the death rate dwarfs the citywide average.
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Vaccinations also began at a hospital in Peoria, with the governor in attendance. Vaccinations planned Tuesday for Edward Hospital in Naperville and Elmhurst Hospital were postponed at least until Wednesday.
Meanwhile, the Food and Drug Administration said in documents posted online that its initial review confirmed the effectiveness and safety of a second vaccine developed by Moderna and the National Institutes of Health, bringing the shot to the cusp of authorization.
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Outside experts will offer their recommendation on that vaccine Thursday, with a final FDA decision expected soon thereafter.
Also on Tuesday, state officials announced 7,359 new confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 and 117 additional fatalities, bringing the total number of known infections in Illinois to 863,477 and the statewide death toll to 14,509 since the start of the pandemic.
Here’s what’s happening Tuesday with COVID-19 in the Chicago area and Illinois:
7:37 p.m.: Illinois starts administering COVID-19 vaccine amid optimism and thoughts of the disease’s victims
As the first COVID-19 vaccine administered in Illinois was plunged into Dr. Marina Del Rios’ left arm Tuesday, she thought about all the people who didn’t live to see the historic day.
Her former patients. The health care workers who treated the virus and lost their lives because of it. The friend who died in the early days of the pandemic.
“I can’t give you a total number of the people I know who have died or lost loved ones. I’ve stopped counting,” said Del Rios, the social emergency medicine director at the University of Illinois Hospital. “You never want any lives to be lost, but so many at the same time weighs even heavier on you.”
Del Rios and four other health care workers received Chicago’s first COVID vaccinations Tuesday at Loretto Hospital, the first step in a national effort to blunt a pandemic that has killed 1.6 million people and sickened nearly 73 million worldwide. Five health care workers in Peoria were also given shots at an event attended by the governor. Read more here. — Jamie Munks, Stacy St. Clair, Dan Petrella, Lisa Schencker and Gregory Pratt
4:37 p.m.: Chicago travel order now only requires 10-day quarantine for ‘red’ tier states, which will no longer include Iowa
The city of Chicago moved more than a dozen states to its most severe travel order designation, but people returning from those areas only need to quarantine for 10 days now, officials announced Tuesday.
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Based on the latest Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidance that those exposed to COVID-19 should quarantine for 10 days, not 14, travelers from “red” level states are mandated to follow the shorter requirement, according to a city press release.”
Regardless of category, people are urged to avoid non-essential travel and to follow standard COVID-19 mitigation practices such as wearing a mask, washing hands frequently, and social distancing,” the press release said.
As of Friday, Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Mississippi, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Tennessee and West Virginia will be bumped up to the red tier.
But Iowa is moving down to the “orange designation” that allows travelers to avoid the quarantine if they receive a negative test result before coming into the city.
That makes the total 31 red states and 17 orange states plus Puerto Rico and Washington, D.C. New to the orange list will be Maine and Vermont. Only one state, Hawaii, remains “yellow,” meaning there are no additional testing or quarantine requirements.
Up until last month, any state averaging an infection rate higher than 15 daily cases per 100,000 residents over a seven-day period was added to the city’s list. Then the city revamped its travel order introduced during the Fourth of July weekend to require a quarantine only from people coming from red-tier states, or those with higher COVID-19 case rates than Chicago. The city is now at 60 cases per 100,000 residents.
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Those coming from orange states, which have numbers between 15 cases-per-100,000 and Chicago’s rate of 60-per-100,000 should get a negative COVID-19 test result no more than 72 hours before arriving or quarantine for 10 days. Those coming from the one yellow state must only observe regular social distancing and mask rules.
The travel order is updated every two weeks and goes into effect the following Friday. Read more here. — Alice Yin
4:25 p.m.: Chicago Public Schools’ reopening plan uncertain as hearing on teachers union injunction request looms
Major decisions could be made about Chicago Public Schools this week related to its coronavirus response and plans to resume in-person learning.
The Chicago Board of Education is set to vote on extending its emergency COVID-19 spending authorization until March, allowing the district to take on costs tied to the pandemic without the usual approval process. So far, CPS reports it has spent about $132 million on coronavirus measures, including $68 million of the $75 million earmarked for emergencies. If approved by the board, the extension would give CPS three additional months to spend the remaining $7 million. Read more here. — Hannah Leone
(Updated) 4:04 p.m.: Second stimulus check updates: Talks escalate on long-delayed COVID-19 aid package, top lawmakers to meet
Talks on a long-delayed COVID-19 aid package intensified Tuesday as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi summoned other top congressional leaders for a potentially critical meeting.
Pelosi, D-Calif., spoke with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin for more than an hour, her office tweeted, and Mnuchin will join the make-or-break meeting of Capitol Hill’s “big four” leaders by phone.
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The uptick in activity could be a sign that an agreement is near, though COVID-19 relief talks have been notoriously difficult. Read more here. — Associated Press
3:12 p.m.: Evanston and Skokie health departments wait for call on COVID-19 vaccines: ‘It’s like the bat phone. If it rings, then you go and get it.’
Public health officials in Evanston and Skokie are waiting for the call that doses of the much anticipated COVID-19 vaccine are ready for pick up.
For now, local officials are preparing for that call to come and expect that it could be sometime this week. Other details, like where they will be sent to retrieve it, are also up in the air, said Greg Olsen, public health manager for the city of Evanston. Read more here. — Genevieve Bookwalter, Pioneer Press
1:35p.m.: Pritzker calls vaccinations in Peoria ‘a beginning for the state of Illinois’
Gov. J.B. Pritzker called Tuesday’s vaccinations in Peoria “a beginning for the state of Illinois.”
He also discussed security precautions for the state’s vaccine supply. The Illinois State Police and local law enforcement are working “to make sure that at every step of the way these vaccines are protected once they arrive in the state” and are distributed to the places where they will be administered, Pritzker said.
“I met with the state troopers that were at the (Strategic National Stockpile) yesterday and they escort these vaccines as they move from the SNS to these regional hospitals that also have ultracold storage,” Pritzker said. “And then local law enforcement typically are accompanying the local health departments as they pick up the vaccines.”
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Pritzker said the OSF St. Francis Medical Center in Peoria was chosen to receive the first vaccines for the state’s event in part because the state’s strategic national stockpile is “nearby, and so this made it more convenient.” The state has not disclosed the exact location, citing security reasons.
It wasn’t clear how many vaccinations would be administered across the state on Tuesday, but the state and the city of Chicago received vaccine shipments, and additional shipments are expected to arrive at four county health departments this week.
The state’s top public health official, Illinois Department of Public Health Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike said 96 hospitals in Illinois will be administering vaccines this week. The hospitals are associated with the 50 counties in the state with the highest per capita death rates, the metric Pritzker’s administration chose for distributing the state’s initial shipment to frontline health care workers.
Some rural counties without hospitals are on the list, while the counties where designated vaccine downstate distribution hubs are located in Peoria, Springfield and Champaign initially were not. But the state updated its plan to include hospitals where people from those rural counties would be most likely to go.
“That’s just for this week, and of course there will be subsequent pushes every single week,” Ezike said Tuesday. “By next week all hospitals will be engaged in the effort. This is just the beginning. Patience will be the name of the game but we will get this out to all of our workers in the health care setting.”
Ezike said the state is likely to spend most of next year on its vaccination efforts, and acknowledged not everyone will be initially eager to get a shot.
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“I do imagine that as with any kind of activity that you’re trying to take on, there will be early adopters, there will be never adopters, there will be late adopters and there will be people in the middle,” she said.
“I know these people are helping for some of those later or middle adopters to say ‘Hey, I see someone who looks just like me, who does the same work do, is from my community that’s getting this done, that’s from my state,’ " she said. “And so I imagine that there will be a big push toward later, maybe in the spring… And so there might be a big surge of people wanting the vaccine a little bit later, but I still think there are adequate numbers of people now, so this will be a continual process for much of 2021.”
The Pfizer vaccine requires two shots, the initial one and a booster about three weeks later. Ezike said those who received their first doses will not be “appropriately covered, or immune from the single shot.”
“We don’t have actual data to say what happens if you don’t get that second because the plan is to have that booster after 21 days,” Ezike said. “It’s an important step but there’s still absolutely another step as well as the continued mitigations that have to continue. I hope that all the people who are watching this have confidence that this is a vaccine that they should take as well.”
—Jamie Munks
12:20 p.m.: Fourth person to receive vaccine in Peoria said she felt ‘awesome’ afterwards
Evelyn Tatum, the fourth person to receive the vaccine in Peoria, said she felt “awesome” afterwards, but that she will continue to operate as she has been to this point in the pandemic.
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“I’ll be wearing my mask until I’m told I can take it off,” Tatum said. “And I will just be so happy. I will be so happy.”
“It’s been something. It really has been something, working with all this,” she said. “I’ve been here since the beginning, I’ve been through it all, never took any time off. I just wear what I have to wear, my PPE, and just went on with my life and my job. It really didn’t change much of anything, I just did what I had to do. I’m a healthy woman, and as long as I follow the rules, anybody follows the rules, you’ll be OK. I’m a big believer in that.”
—Jamie Munks
12:15 p.m.: 7,359 new confirmed and probable COVID-19 cases and 117 additional deaths reported
Illinois health officials on Tuesday announced 7,359 new confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 and 117 additional fatalities, bringing the total number of known infections in Illinois to 863,477 and the statewide death toll to 14,509 since the start of the pandemic.
Officials also reported 92,922 new tests in the last 24 hours. The seven-day statewide rolling positivity rate for cases as a share of total tests was 8.6% for the period ending Monday.
—Chicago Tribune staff
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11:57 a.m.: Certified nursing assistant first to receive a shot in Peoria
Chemica Jones, 41, a certified nursing assistant at OSF HealthCare St. Francis Medical Center was the first to receive a shot in Peoria.
Jones works with COVID patients “on a day to day basis,” she said in an interview after receiving the first dose of the state’s vaccine supply.
“At first I was a little nervous but once I got here, and realized ‘OK Chemica you’re here to do your part, this is what you were put here for,’” Jones said. “I just want to do my part for my community, for my family, just make sure I keep everyone safe. I know people are optimistic about the vaccine but it’s OK to be nervous. It’s okay to be scared, but once you get it you’ll realize It made a difference. I’m stopping the spread of the virus.’”
Also vaccinated in Peoria were Juan Fernandez, a transporter, Doug Meyer, a respiratory therapist, Evelyn Tatum, who works in Environmental Services at the medical center and Victor Chan, chief of Emergency Services at OSF HealthCare St. Francis Medical Center.
—Jamie Munks
11:42 a.m.: Peoria health workers first to get vaccines from Illinois’ supply
Five health care workers in Peoria were the first to receive the state of Illinois’ share of the coronavirus vaccine shortly after 11 a.m. Tuesday, with Gov. J.B. Pritzker and Illinois Department of Public Health Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike looking on at OSF St. Francis, Jump Trading Simulation & Education Center in Peoria.
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“I think everyone has reason to be excited that we are at the beginning of the end,” Ezike said after the shots had been administered.
COVID 19 vaccines are being administered to health care workers in Peoria this morning, with @GovPritzker and Dr. Ezike looking on. pic.twitter.com/Y75fQkAxAJ — Jamie Munks (@by_jamiemunks) December 15, 2020
—Jamie Munks
11:05 a.m.: Chicago administers first doses of coronavirus vaccines
Five frontline medical workers received the vaccine against COVID-19 in Chicago, marking an important milestone in the fight against coronavirus.
“What we just witnessed is history in the making,” Mayor Lori Lightfoot said during a ceremony at Loretto Hospital in the city’s hard-hit Austin neighborhood.
The first person to receive the vaccine was Dr. Marina Del Rios, from the University of Illinois health system.
Chicago public health commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady led a small ceremony for five recipients where she emphasized the vaccine’s safety and discussed the process used to store it. Officials gave five doses to start, because that’s how many are in a vial, she said.
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After the first vaccination, the room applauded.
Mark Hooks, an emergency department nurse at Loretto, was the third person — and first Illinois man — to receive the vaccination. In April, he told the Tribune about the grueling decision to isolate himself from his two school-age daughters was the hardest part of his job.
Though Hooks joined them for socially distant activities such as bike riding and street hockey, there were no meals shared, no watching movies together on the couch.
“There is a lot of Zoom and a lot of Houseparty, but it’s just not the same,” he said. “Even harder than being scared about coming to work every day is not being able to be with them.”
Read more here. — Gregory Pratt, Stacy St. Clair
11:01 a.m.: Busting COVID-19 vaccine myths
If you want an idea of the conspiracy theories that hang over COVID-19 vaccines, there’s no better summation than a 40-second TikTok video posted in October by a performer named Taylor Rousseau.
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As a melodramatic song plays, Rousseau, young, blonde and elaborately mascaraed, silently portrays a woman beaten to death for refusing to take a vaccine that contains a microchip carrying the mark of the beast. At the end, she enters a heavenly skyscape emblazoned with the words: “Well done, good and faithful servant.”
The video has been seen more than 680,000 times, garnered 47,000 likes and, despite thousands of mocking comments (“Ma’am, this is a CVS”), earned plenty of positive reviews.
“This is so incredibly powerful,” one viewer wrote.
Therein lies a challenge for public health officials trying to convince a wary portion of the public that the COVID-19 vaccines are safe and effective. Phony assertions have circulated for months on social media, joining a current of anti-vaccine sentiment that has grown stronger over the last 20 years.
A poll released last week showed that only 47% of Americans plan to get the vaccine. Those who didn’t want it mostly said they were concerned about side effects and the development and approval process, though the poll didn’t ask about many widely circulating myths. As the rollout begins, there are common myths about the COVID-19 vaccine and what experts have to say about them.
You can read about them here. —John Keilman
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9:25 a.m.: COVID-19 vaccine administration delayed at Naperville’s Edward Hospital
Naperville’s Edward Hospital has delayed administration of COVID-19 vaccines because delivery of the doses to the hospital was pushed back, a hospital spokesman said.
The hospital is now anticipating receiving the vaccines Wednesday.
The Edward-Elmhurst Health System, which also includes Elmhurst Hospital, had planned to begin administering the vaccines to employees Tuesday. This morning, spokesman Keith Hartenberger said administration had been delayed at both hospitals.
When it does receive the vaccines, the system expects to receive 3,900 doses, which it will split evenly between employees at Edward and Elmhurst hospitals. Frontline workers caring for patients with COVID-19 and emergency department employees will receive priority for the vaccine, though it will be available to all employees, Hartenberger has said.
The first shipment will cover employees’ first doses. A required second dose will be provided from later shipments.
Read more here. —Sarah Freishtat, Naperville Sun
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7:15 a.m.: First COVID-19 vaccines administered in Chicago to be given at Loretto Hospital in Austin neighborhood, vaccinations also slated for other state hotspots
Mayor Lori Lightfoot and city health Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady will join hospital officials at the Loretto Hospital in the Austin neighborhood Tuesday morning to witness the ceremonial first COVID-19 vaccination in Chicago.
The event, coming a day after many states began administering the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine, will be livestreamed on local news sites and the mayor’s Facebook page. It wasn’t clear how many people will receive the first vaccines at Loretto. Chicago had been scheduled to receive 23,000 doses of the vaccine this week, reserved for medical workers and at-risk residents of longterm care facilities.
The Austin neighborhood’s COVID-19 death and case rate far outstrip the city’s average. Vaccinations also were slated to begin Tuesday at hospitals in Naperville, Elmhurst and Peoria.— Chicago Tribune staff
5 a.m.: Illinois schools have tallied more than 160 outbreaks of COVID-19. But what happens when they occur, and who decides if a school should close?
After a string of COVID-19 cases were reported at The School of Saints Faith, Hope and Charity in Winnetka last month, school officials dutifully notified the Cook County Department of Public Health and were soon delivered some troubling news.
The Roman Catholic elementary school had met the criteria for an outbreak, thrusting a thorny health and safety decision into the hands of the principal and the Archdiocese of Chicago about whether to halt in-person instruction.
“We decided to immediately pivot to e-learning for a temporary period, because first and foremost is the safety of our students and staff, and we just didn’t want to take the risk,” said Justin Lombardo, the leader of the archdiocese’s COVID-19 task force, who said students have been back in the classroom at the North Shore school since Nov. 30.
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Since the beginning of the pandemic, 163 such school-based outbreaks have been reviewed in the state, including nine reported Friday by the Illinois Department of Public Health. But while the state is now posting such numbers online — and health departments are assisting schools with surveillance of cases, contact tracing and guidance — it still falls to school officials to make the biggest decision: Does the school need to shut down again?
Read more here. — Karen Ann Cullotta
5 a.m.: Hope at a historic moment: First COVID-19 vaccinations scheduled to be given in Illinois on Tuesday
The first COVID-19 vaccinations in Illinois are scheduled to be administered Tuesday, bringing a sense of hope along with the most significant action yet to blunt a pandemic that has killed more than 14,000 people statewide.
Amid a massive distribution effort that will take several days to reach medical centers in more than four dozen counties, Chicago selected a hospital in one of its hardest-hit neighborhoods to administer the city’s first shot. The vaccination will be given Tuesday morning at Loretto Hospital in the Austin community, where the death rate dwarfs the citywide average.
“The Loretto Hospital and our colleagues at safety net hospitals across the city have been in the trenches of Chicago’s battle against COVID since day one,” Loretto President and CEO George Miller said. “We are honored to play a part in this historic moment, on behalf of all the front-line health care providers, our heroes, and our brothers and sisters so disproportionately impacted by this pandemic. We look forward to turning this corner, together.”
The vaccinations also were slated to begin Tuesday at hospitals in Naperville, Elmhurst and Peoria.
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Read the full story here. — Dan Petrella, Sarah Freishtat, Stacy St. Clair, Lisa Schencker, Lisa Donovan, Gregory Pratt And Jamie Munks
5 a.m.: Cook County officials investigating south suburban youth wrestling tournament featuring out-of-state teams
A wrestling tournament featuring several Midwestern teams in Lynwood over the weekend, is being investigated by Cook County officials and got the attention of Gov. J.B. Pritzker.
Cook County spokesman Don Bolger said the village of Lynwood has cited the Ho-Chunk Nation Southland Center for hosting the King of the Ring Christmas Bash Saturday and Sunday, which brought hundreds of grapplers from Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio and other states. Bolger said that the village did not specify which violations were cited and Lynwood Mayor Eugene Williams did not return calls seeking comment.
Pritzker, who spent a good chunk of his news conference Monday giving details about the COVID-19 vaccine, commented about the tournament.
”I would just say putting parents, teachers and coaches and the kids in danger is a terrible idea,” Pritzker said. “Especially when we are experiencing a number of deaths per day in the United States that is equivalent to a 9/11 every day.”
Read more here. — Daily Southtown
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In case you missed it
Here are five things that happened Monday related to COVID-19:


chicagotribune--2020-12-16--Illinois starts administering COVID-19 vaccine amid optimism and thoughts of the disease’s victims

During the city ’ s event , Dr. Nikhila Juvvadi , the chief clinical officer at Loretto , earned the @ @ @ @ @ health care worker to administer the vaccine in Illinois .
After giving Del Rios the @ @ @ @ @ happiest moment in her career , she said — Juvvadi couldn ’ t help but @ @ @ @ @ nights back in March and April , when she worried how the hospital would find @ @ @ @ @ equipment or effective treatments needed to beat back the mysterious virus .

Jamie Munks, Stacy St. Clair, Dan Petrella, Lisa Schencker, Gregory Pratt

Laquitta Boyd, holds her 6-year-old daughter Venisha while receiving her first COVID-19 vaccination at a back-to-school health fair hosted by RUSH University Medical Center at the Salvation Army Freedom Center on July 30, 2022, in Chicago. (John J. Kim / Chicago Tribune)
As the first COVID-19 vaccine administered in Illinois was plunged into Dr. Marina Del Rios’ left arm Tuesday, she thought about all the people who didn’t live to see the historic day.
Her former patients. The health care workers who treated the virus and lost their lives because of it. The friend who died in the early days of the pandemic.
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“I can’t give you a total number of the people I know who have died or lost loved ones. I’ve stopped counting,” said Del Rios, the social emergency medicine director at the University of Illinois Hospital. “You never want any lives to be lost, but so many at the same time weighs even heavier on you.”
Del Rios and four other health care workers received Chicago’s first COVID vaccinations Tuesday at Loretto Hospital, the first step in a national effort to blunt a pandemic that has killed 1.6 million people and sickened nearly 73 million worldwide. Five health care workers in Peoria were also given shots at an event attended by the governor.
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In Chicago, the hand-picked group included people of different races, genders and professional roles. Del Rios, who is also a researcher and associate professor at University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine, was selected as the first recipient because of her efforts in promoting health care equity throughout the pandemic.
While taking on additional hospital shifts to help meet the demand over the past year, she volunteered with both the Illinois Department of Public Health COVID-19 Health Equity Task Force and the Restore Illinois Health Justice work group. She also took a leadership position with Illinois Unidos, a group that aims to stop the virus’s transmission and address the pandemic’s devastating public health and economic impact in Latino communities.
“This is a culmination of all that,” she said. “All that hard work and now there might be an end to all this. That’s very exciting.”
The immunizations came a day after the state received 43,000 doses of the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine that federal regulators recently approved for emergency use. The initial shots are reserved for health care workers in 50 counties that have seen the highest per capita death rates from COVID-19.
“What we just witnessed is history in the making,” Mayor Lori Lightfoot said during a ceremony at Loretto, which is in the city’s hard-hit Austin neighborhood.
During the city’s event, Dr. Nikhila Juvvadi, the chief clinical officer at Loretto, earned the distinction of becoming the first health care worker to administer the vaccine in Illinois. After giving Del Rios the shot — by far the happiest moment in her career, she said — Juvvadi couldn’t help but think about all those sleepless nights back in March and April, when she worried how the hospital would find the money, personal protective equipment or effective treatments needed to beat back the mysterious virus.
“I don’t think a vaccine even crossed our minds in those early months,” she said. “The world was falling in around us. We couldn’t have imagined giving a vaccine before for Christmas.”
In Peoria, Dr. Ngozi Ezike, director of the Illinois Department of Health, hailed the first vaccinations “as the beginning of the end.”
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Nurse Shannon Lesch gives a COVID-19 vaccine to Dr. Victor Chan at OSF Saint Francis Medical Center in Peoria. (Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Chicago Sun-Times )
Ezike and Gov. J.B. Pritzker watched as Chemica Jones, a 41-year-old certified nursing assistant at OSF HealthCare St. Francis Medical Center in Peoria, became the first central Illinois resident to receive the shot. Jones works with COVID patients every day, but she still had to summon a bit of courage before agreeing to the inaugural dose.
“I just want to do my part for my community, for my family, just make sure I keep everyone safe,” she said. “I know people are optimistic about the vaccine, but it’s OK to be nervous. It’s OK to be scared, but once you get it, you’ll realize it made a difference. I’m stopping the spread of the virus.’”
Public health officials say the two events were among only three Illinois locations where the vaccine has been administered. Hines VA Hospital in the western suburbs also began giving shots as part of a federal initiative overseen by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
Long-term care veteran Melissa Ann Klocker receives a COVID-19 vaccine from nurse Barbara Motoszko at Edward Hines Jr. VA Hospital on Dec. 15, 2020. Klocker, who served as a Blackhawk helicopter mechanic in the Army in the Persian Gulf era, was the first veteran at Hines to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. (Chris Sweda / Chicago Tribune)
Several other medical centers hoped to begin giving shots to staff members Tuesday or Wednesday, but they postponed plans when the doses did not arrive.
Many suburban hospitals are waiting to get the vaccines through county health departments. Both Lake’s and Cook County’s health departments said they had not yet received the vaccines as of Tuesday afternoon.
Spokespeople for both those departments said they were originally expecting vaccines from the state but were then told they’d get them directly from Pfizer instead. The Pritzker administration said that was a decision made by the federal government.
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The governor denied any distribution delays and blamed overeager hospital public relations teams for prematurely announcing vaccination events. Though other states have begun vaccinations in earnest, Illinois is still in the process of divvying its allotment among the 50 counties slated to receive initial doses.
“I think they were overly excited,” Pritzker said. “The Illinois Hospital Association, working with us and working with the individual hospitals, were responsible for scheduling when those things would be delivered to them. Some, no doubt, are more excited than others and put it out there that they would be receiving them when they actually weren’t scheduled.”
The timing is not entirely unexpected, said Jeff Thiel, NorthShore assistant vice president for pharmacy. NorthShore had understood that the vaccines could arrive anytime between Tuesday and Thursday.
“We’ve essentially been planned and ready to go to begin vaccination starting tomorrow (Wednesday), but ... we’re going to have to put those off until we get more information on the final delivery,” Thiel said. “I think a lot of hospitals are in the same situation, kind of waiting for the final word and final decision.”
Illinois expects to receive 100,000 doses over the next few days, with hundreds of thousands of additional doses in the coming weeks. They are being stored at the Illinois outpost of the Strategic National Stockpile until they’re sent to regional hubs for distribution.
More shipments could be expected before month’s end as the Food and Drug Administration said Tuesday that its initial review confirmed the effectiveness and safety of a second vaccine developed by Moderna and the National Institutes of Health. Outside experts are expected to recommend emergency use authorization for the second coronavirus vaccine as early as Thursday, with a final FDA decision expected soon thereafter.
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Lightfoot warned residents not to let their guard down. Residents must continue social distancing, staying at home and avoiding unnecessary travel, including canceling traditional holiday plans, she said.
“While we can see light at the end of the tunnel, we are still in the tunnel,” she said.
Her words proved true a few hours later, when Illinois Public Health officials announced 7,359 new confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 and 117 additional fatalities. This brings the total number of known infections in Illinois to 863,477 and the statewide death toll to 14,509 since the start of the pandemic.
To a person, each health care worker vaccinated Tuesday understood the gravity of those numbers. They’ve born witness to the virus’s deadly impact in ways big and small ways since the pandemic began.
“It’s been something. It really has been something, working with all this,” said Evelyn Tatum, an environmental service worker at OSF HealthCare St. Francis Medical Center in Peoria. “I’ve been here since the beginning, I’ve been through it all, never took any time off. I just wear what I have to wear, my PPE, and just went on with my life and my job.”
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Del Rios, for her part, no longer hugs her children when she returns home from work until she has showered and changed clothes. She also had a panic attack in Michigan over the summer, when she found herself in the vicinity of people who weren’t wearing masks.
And she has mourned the death of a friend, Jose Vazquez, a fellow parent volunteer with Chicago Cuatro Orchestra in Humboldt Park. Vazquez, 51, died alone in a Chicago hospital bed on March 30.
Like Vazquez, Del Rios has two children in the orchestra. Like Vazquez, she is of Puerto Rican descent and always pitching in to help.
Del Rios thought of him — and his daughters, Marissa and Sabrina — as she received the lifesaving vaccine.
“He is one of the faces I think about the most,” she said. “And I think about his girls. Their lives are never going to be the same.”
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Lightfoot selected Loretto as the site for the first vaccinations as acknowledgment of all the safety-net hospitals that have punched above their weight during the pandemic. The medical centers, which treat patients regardless of their insurance status or ability to pay, have been overrun on many occasions throughout the pandemic as the virus exacted a devastating toll on the city’s poorest neighborhoods.
Austin’s main ZIP code has one of the city’s highest death rates, with 1 in every 468 residents killed by the virus, according to data maintained by the Chicago Department of Public Health. The neighborhood death rate is about 62% higher than that of the entire city, a reflection of the deadly consequences that underserved Black communities have endured for generations.
City leaders hope the choice also allays concerns about the vaccine in the Black community, where the country’s history of inhumane medical experiments such as the Tuskegee Syphilis Study remains an unhealed wound.
In a recent Pew Research Center poll, more than half of African Americans nationwide said they would not get the vaccine.
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“The fact that we are one of the first to get the vaccination is recognition that life has not always been fair for African Americans because of the disparities and inequities that exist,” Loretto Hospital President George Miller said Monday.
Del Rios, who will be part of the team promoting vaccinations in Chicago throughout the next year, said it’s important to acknowledge the reasons for the skepticism before proselytizing about the need for shots.
“Any messaging must start with recognizing there is justification for hesitancy and distrust,” she said. “We have to start with that and then let people ask as many questions as they need.”
And if that question is how much does the needle hurt?
“Not much,” Del Rios said. “The flu shot I got this year hurt more.”


chicagotribune--2020-12-16--Federal officials say monarch butterflies qualify for protection under the Endangered Species Act, b

Federal officials say monarch butterflies qualify for protection under the Endangered Species Act, but they won’t get it this year

Ahead of the decision , some rights of way landowners signed on to voluntary agreements approved by the wildlife service @ @ @ @ @ a certain percentage of conservation actions on energy and transportation lands to support monarchs in @ @ @ @ @ implement other conservation actions .
For organizations that sign on , the agreements offer certainty @ @ @ @ @ asked of them even if a species is formally listed .

Monarch butterflies are still many flights away from federal protection.
The popular black and orange butterflies were determined to be warranted for listing under the Endangered Species Act, but they’ll have to wait behind others with higher priority, according to a Tuesday decision from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
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Illinois’ state insect could be listed in the future. The wildlife service intends to propose listing the monarch as an endangered or threatened species in 2024, if the insect is still found to need protection. In the meantime, the monarch’s status will be reviewed each year and an emergency listing is also possible.
“It is never good news when we find that listing an animal or a plant is warranted,” said Charlie Wooley, the service’s regional director for the Great Lakes in a Tuesday news conference. “It means there are tough challenges ahead. But a little bit of a silver lining with monarchs is that all of the efforts to conserve the species across North America have made and continue to make a big difference. ”
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Monarchs’ populations dropped by hundreds of millions in the last 25 years, according to the wildlife service’s species status assessment report. The eastern population in North America, which supports about 90% of the population globally, is measured by the area the migratory monarchs occupy across winter clusters. Populations dipped from about 384 million in 1996 to 60 million last year. In 2013, they hit a low of 14 million.
The western population took a dive from about 1.2 million in 1997 to fewer than 30,000 butterflies last year. This year’s preliminary count shows there may be only 2,000 monarchs along California’s coast, said Lori Nordstrom, the wildlife service’s assistant regional director for ecological services.
To survive, the paper-thin insects must withstand drought, severe storms and rising temperatures, all exacerbated by human-fueled climate change. Insecticides are also a threat, as well as loss of milkweed and habitat — from herbicides, the conversion of grasslands to agriculture use, development and logging.
A monarch butterfly spreads its wings at Lurie Garden in Millennium Park in 2019. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)
In the coming years, monarchs are expected to be more vulnerable to “catastrophic events” like severe storms and exposure to higher temperatures.
A national, coordinated effort is what’s ultimately needed to protect monarchs, said Tara Cornelisse, a senior scientist with The Center for Biological Diversity, which petitioned to have the monarch listed in 2014. Instead, the monarch is stuck in limbo.
“What we can do now is, unfortunately, we kind of just watch what happens,” Cornelisse said.
Significant recovery of the species isn’t expected, Cornelisse said, so there’s hope monarchs may still be listed — ideally before 2024. Forty-seven species have gone extinct while waiting for protection under the act, she said.
There are nine species on the candidate list ahead of monarchs in the Great Lakes region, including the Blanding’s turtles and the Western fanshell freshwater mussel. Nationally, there are 161 species with higher priority.
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The Trump administration has listed the least since the act took effect in 1973, according to The Associated Press. Only 25 species have been listed in recent years, while the Obama administration added 360.
The administration has also made changes to the Endangered Species Act, which could have an effect on the monarch.
A mixed reaction to Tuesday’s news is fitting for a mixed decision, said Doug Stotz, a conservation ecologist at the Field Museum.
Not getting listed is disappointing because insects don’t have other protections, Stotz said. “Most birds have protection under the Migratory Bird Act and will receive some protection. Basically, a monarch doesn’t have anything, like all insects. So lack of endangered species protection is potentially an issue.”
At the same time, this intermediary step indicates monarch protection is serious, while giving stakeholders time to develop voluntary plans, Stotz said.
Across generations of metamorphoses, the great- or great-great offspring of earlier monarchs fly all the way to the mountains of Mexico and head north again in the spring. The monarchs we see in Illinois are just one piece of the eastern population’s life cycle.
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At this point, Stotz said he’s particularly concerned about the western population, which could have received much needed attention from listing. “Last year we were shocked when it was only 30,000,” he said.
Advocates say collective efforts to help the butterfly are more important than ever.
“Monarch conservation continues to require an all-hands-on-deck approach in all sectors across the continent,” Nordstrom said. “From the smallest backyard garden to landscape scale conservation, it will take all of us to ensure the future of the monarch.”
Earlier this year, a group of stakeholders representing farms, cities, roadsides and natural areas signed on to the Illinois Monarch Action Plan, part of a larger regional effort to add 1.3 billion stems of milkweed, necessary for monarchs’ survival. Illinois aims to add 150 million stems of the state wildflower by 2038.
Ahead of the decision, some rights of way landowners signed on to voluntary agreements approved by the wildlife service in which they commit to a certain percentage of conservation actions on energy and transportation lands to support monarchs in exchange for not having to implement other conservation actions. For organizations that sign on, the agreements offer certainty that no more will be asked of them even if a species is formally listed.
“I think this listing decision provides that further confidence that some energy companies and transportation agencies need to know that this mechanism, this agreement is out there to provide them those regulatory assurances and the operational flexibility that they would need when, if, the species eventually is listed,” said Iris Caldwell, the project’s coordinator and a program manager at the University of Illinois at Chicago’s Energy Resources Center.
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The butterflies will be back in Illinois in spring, after migrating thousands of miles, stirring memories of school projects, community gardens and unforgettable moments.
Scott Baumgartner, of Lakeview, planted milkweed all around his property in southwest Wisconsin after learning years ago that monarchs were in jeopardy.
Now, when he sees one of the butterflies, he sometimes remembers the photos his mother once sent, from a morning in her Texas town when monarchs covered everything in sight. By the next morning, they were gone.
“There were butterflies everywhere,” Baumgartner said. “Every single inch of bush, tree limb, there was a butterfly clinging to it. It was just unbelievable.”


chicagotribune--2020-12-17--More Illinois hospitals begin vaccinating health care workers as state and federal officials clash o

More Illinois hospitals begin vaccinating health care workers as state and federal officials clash over size of future shipments

But a spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said there have been no changes to the @ @ @ @ @ been made to the states : the first shipment of the Pfizer vaccine , which @ @ @ @ @ went out this week ; the first shipment of a second vaccine from Moderna , @ @ @ @ @ to ship as soon as next week ; and the second shipment of the Pfizer @ @ @ @ @ Tuesday and also would ship next week .

Dan Petrella, Lisa Schencker, Gregory Pratt

Laquitta Boyd, holds her 6-year-old daughter Venisha while receiving her first COVID-19 vaccination at a back-to-school health fair hosted by RUSH University Medical Center at the Salvation Army Freedom Center on July 30, 2022, in Chicago. (John J. Kim / Chicago Tribune)
Gov. J.B. Pritzker and federal health officials clashed Wednesday over whether the state’s next two shipments of Pfizer’s new coronavirus vaccine were being cut back, putting on display the logistical complications of a massive vaccination distribution effort that’s slowly getting off the ground in Illinois.
Pritzker began his daily COVID-19 briefing Wednesday by saying anticipated shipments nationwide in the next two weeks both have been cut in half, which “will likely cut our state’s projected Pfizer shipments this month roughly by half.”
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“The same is true across the rest of the nation,” the governor said.
But a spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said there have been no changes to the three official allocations that have been made to the states: the first shipment of the Pfizer vaccine, which was allocated Nov. 20 and went out this week; the first shipment of a second vaccine from Moderna, allocated Nov. 27 and set to ship as soon as next week; and the second shipment of the Pfizer vaccine, which was allocated Tuesday and also would ship next week.
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“Operation Warp Speed remains on track to allocate enough vaccine for about 20 million Americans to receive their first doses before the end of the month,” assuming the Food and Drug Administration authorizes the Moderna vaccine for emergency use later this week, the spokesperson said.
Employees cheer as the initial doses of the COVID-19 vaccine arrive at Silver Cross Hospital in New Lenox on Wednesday. (Zbigniew Bzdak / Chicago Tribune)
The state now is in line to receive a little more than 60,000 doses next week, according to the governor’s office. Pritzker spokeswoman Jordan Abudayyeh said the administration was expecting a much larger shipment based on estimates provided by Operation Warp Speed in early December.
The dispute over the number of available vaccine doses comes as public anticipation and media fervor triggered by the vaccine’s arrival in the state butts up against the painstaking process of receiving, repackaging and distributing the highly delicate doses to regional medical centers.
Those 10 large hospitals will serve as hubs for getting the vaccine to the designated local health departments and hospitals in line to receive the initial doses.
Some Illinois hospitals began giving their employees vaccines Wednesday.
Rush Copley Medical Center in Aurora received about 960 doses though the Kane County Health Department and expected to vaccinate at least 60 workers Wednesday. Kane County received its first shipment of 4,795 doses Wednesday, which was distributed to five local hospitals.
Amita Health Saint Joseph Medical Center Joliet also began administering vaccines to workers Wednesday, after receiving them through the health department in Will County. Vaccinations were also expected to start Thursday at Amita Health Adventist Medical Center Bolingbrook, as well as a number of other Amita hospitals, spokesman Tim Nelson said.
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Pharmacist Allie Stevens administers the COVID-19 vaccine to Dr. Hari Gadde, 66, at Amita Health Presence Medical Center in Joliet on Dec. 16, 2020. (Zbigniew Bzdak / Chicago Tribune)
Still, other Illinois hospitals continued to wait for vaccines. The Cook County Department of Public Health expected vaccines shipped from Pfizer to arrive at 15 suburban Cook County hospitals Thursday, spokesman Don Bolger said in an email.
The health department in Lake County also had not yet received vaccines as of Wednesday afternoon, but expected them Thursday or Friday.
Hospitals in other states are further along than those in Illinois.
Vaccinations began Monday in New York City, and more than 1,600 health care workers had been vaccinated as of Wednesday morning, according to the city’s health department.
University Hospital in Madison, Wisconsin, received 3,900 doses of the vaccine Monday, and had vaccinated about 250 workers as of Wednesday afternoon, with plans to reach 900 by the end of the week, spokesman Gian Galassi said in an email.
SSM Health in Wisconsin received 3,900 doses on Tuesday and had vaccinated about 250 workers as of Wednesday afternoon, with plans to vaccinate about 50 employees an hour, spokeswoman Kim Sveum said in an email.
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Those Wisconsin and New York City hospitals received their shipments directly from Pfizer, which did not respond immediately to requests for comment Wednesday.
Illinois still expects to receive about 109,000 doses of the vaccine this week, including allotments to Chicago and a handful of other local health departments, Pritzker said.
Shipments of vaccine from the state to the regional medical centers remain on schedule, Pritzker said.
“I have urged from the beginning patience, and I think that’s really the watchword that we all need to keep in mind,” the governor said. “Look, would I like everybody to be vaccinated today or this week? I would. I would like it if that could happen. But I think we need to recognize that this is a complex process.”
A.J. Wilhelmi, president and CEO of the Illinois Health and Hospital Association, backed the governor’s assessment in a statement Wednesday.
“The extensive and logistically challenging vaccination process is rolling out now, as scheduled, and thousands of vaccines will be administered before the end of the week, as planned,” Wilhelmi said.
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Illinois Department of Public Health Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike said the agency is working to make data on the number of vaccines administered in the state publicly available, as the state does with information on coronavirus cases and deaths. Vaccinations must be reported to a statewide database within 24 hours of being administered.
But she also pleaded with the public and the media for patience with both the rollout of immunizations and the release of information.
“In terms of who’s getting the vaccines and whether it happens on Monday versus Friday, please understand that getting to the end of the pandemic is not going to be based on this part here,” Ezike said. “It’s going to be when we get it to the masses on the back end.”
The COVID-19 vaccine at Amita Health Presence Medical Center in Joliet. (Zbigniew Bzdak / Chicago Tribune)
Exactly how many hospitals in Chicago and across Illinois already have received the vaccine and how many workers have received the first of two required doses remains unclear. The city and state held press events Tuesday as Loretto Hospital in the Austin neighborhood and OSF Saint Francis Medical Center in Peoria administered their first injections.
In response to a reporter’s question Wednesday, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot disputed that Loretto got the vaccine before other hospitals, even though it was one of the first, but said the city wanted to “make the point about the importance of the vaccine, particularly in communities of color.”
“I don’t have the exact number of which hospitals received it. The intent is to make sure that all of our 34 hospitals have access to the vaccine and have the infrastructure in place to make sure that they can start vaccinating their health care workers as quickly as possible,” Lightfoot said.
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Lightfoot said the city put in an order for 23,400 and expects that to be coming “in batches over the course of the next few days.”
The state’s first shipment of the vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech arrived Monday at the Illinois outpost of the Strategic National Stockpile near Peoria. The Pritzker administration is not disclosing the exact location for security reasons.
In addition to Chicago, local health departments in Cook, Lake, Madison and St. Clair counties also are slated to receive their own shipments this week from the federal government.
Ezike said at the vaccination event in Peoria on Tuesday that 96 hospitals in Illinois will be administering vaccines this week. The hospitals are associated with the 50 counties in the state with the highest per capita death rates, the metric Pritzker’s administration chose for distributing the state’s initial shipment to front-line health care workers.
The city and state could receive shipments of a second vaccine, developed by Moderna, as soon as next week if an FDA advisory panel votes Thursday to recommend emergency use authorization. The first shipments of the Pfizer vaccine arrived four days after the panel recommended authorization.
Pritzker declined to say how many doses of the Moderna vaccine Illinois expects to receive if it’s authorized because there have been fluctuations in the estimates the state has received from the federal government.
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Unlike the Pfizer vaccine, Moderna’s product can be stored at normal freezer temperatures, removing many of the logistical challenges for distribution.
The state reported 7,123 new confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 on Monday, bringing the average number of daily cases for the past week to 8,310. That’s down from an average of 9,118 cases per day the prior week. There have been 870,600 known cases statewide since the pandemic began.
Illinois also reported another 146 deaths, the ninth day in a row with more than 100 fatalities. But the average number of deaths per day is declining after a sharp rise throughout November and early December.
Over the past week, the state averaged 141 deaths per day, down from a peak of 155 daily casualties during the week ending Dec. 8. In all, there have been 14,655 coronavirus deaths in the state since March.
Chicago Tribune’s Jamie Munks and Alice Yin contributed.
dpetrella@chicagotribune.com
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gpratt@chicagotribune.com