DIGGING DEEPER: County behind on some vaccination metrics, but the state is in position to go to phase give based on those metrics - WREX-TV

DIGGING DEEPER: County behind on some vaccination metrics, but the state is in position to go to phase give based on those metrics - WREX-TV

ROCKFORD (WREX) — Illinois will tentatively move into the bridge phase on May 14, but the date everyone has circled is June 11, the first day the state can fully reopen.

However, where do we stand in the Stateline to move those metrics in regards to vaccinations?

First is elderly vaccinations. The state needs 70% of all people over the age of 65 with at least one dose of vaccine.

Boone County Public Health Administrator Amanda Mehl and Winnebago County Public Health Administrator Dr. Sandra Martell say both counties are in the clear for this metric.

"We beat that benchmark over a month and a half ago," Mehl said.

"Our 65 and older are there carrying our weight for us," Martell said.

Between the ages of 16 and older are a different story in the Stateline. Half of that age bracket need at least one dose of the vaccine to fully reopen. Martell says Winnebago County has 46% of that group with at least one dose, but that doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things when it comes to that state reopening.

According to IDPH, over 56% of people over the age of 16 have at least one dose of the vaccine. That means from a vaccination standpoint, Illinois will without question hit its vaccination metrics for reopening on June 11.

The issue is that there are other metrics which Illinois doesn't currently meet. New and current COVID-19 hospitalizations are well above the state's requirement to reopen, and Mehl says our region is negatively contributing to these stats.

"Our nine counties do have metrics that have tripped the orange warning status," Mehl said. "We are still seeing pretty high new case rate per 100,000."

Martell says those stats we will continue to see spikes and surges throughout the summer in our region if we do not continue to push vaccinations.

Her concern comes with that state only requiring 50% of people 16 and older, but that doesn't reflect our population as a whole. While Winnebago County has over 70% of seniors and 46% of those 16 and older at least partially vaccinated, only 32.5% of the county's total population is completely vaccinated against COVID-19.

Martell says until the county, region and state push the fully vaccinated number closer to 70%, there will continue to be surges and the possibility for new variants that aren't covered by current vaccines.

"If we're only at 50%, and I meet someone on the street and the two of us are talking, it could be that one of us isn't vaccinated," Martell said. "That's the challenge."

While new hospitalizations and current hospitalizations are above their metric threshold, both are declining. Meanwhile, the only state going in a negative direction is daily deaths, but those numbers are not high enough to trigger a warning from IDPH.

2021-05-10 03:11:15Z
https://wrex.com/2021/05/09/digging-deeper-county-behind-on-some-vaccination-metrics-but-the-state-is-in-position-to-go-to-phase-give-based-on-those-metrics/

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