COVID-19 vaccinations for members of the public will likely start sometime in January, according to the Vermilion County Health Department.
Administrator Doug Toole says he expects VCHD to receive its first vaccine shipment before the end of December. Other county health departments have received their first shipments already, and the Danville V.A. received doses of the Moderna vaccine today.
The first vaccine shipments in Vermilion County will go to the county’s two hospitals–OSF Sacred Heart Medical Center in Danville and Carle Hoopeston Regional Health Center.
Once vaccines begin at the health department, Toole says the first doses will be given to medical and health care workers. The second group to receive them will be first responders, law enforcement personnel, teachers, state and county officials, jail staff, postal workers, food and transportation employees.
Toole also says that 76 new COVID-19 cases have been confirmed in Vermilion County. Currently, there are 334 active cases locally and 38 residents hospitalized with the virus. The county’s total case count is up to 4,794 positive cases.
The new cases, broken down by age, consist of:
- One person in their 90’s
- One person in their 80’s
- Seven people in their 70’s
- 17 people in their 60’s
- 11 people in their 50’s
- Nine people in their 40’s
- 13 people in their 30’s
- Five people in their 20’s
- Three teenagers
- Seven grade-school-aged children
- One toddler
- One infant
State health officials announced 6,762 new cases on Wednesday along with 135 more deaths. Illinois has now had a total of 918,070 cases and 15,547 deaths. The state’s rolling positivity rate is 7.5 percent.
