As of April 14, 2022, an Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) news release reports that COVID-19 case rates are slowly rising in many areas of the state. IDPH encourages all Illinoisans to pay close attention to conditions in their local communities and stay up to date on their vaccination status.
Every home in the U.S. is eligible to order 4 free at-home COVID-19 tests. The tests are completely free. Orders will usually ship in 7-12 days.
The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) is announcing two new COVID-19 oral antivirals, Paxlovid (Pfizer) and Molnupiravir (Merck), will be available in Illinois later this month. The antivirals are for those with mild-to-moderate COVID-19 who are at high risk for becoming severely ill, including hospitalization or death.
The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) is adopting the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommendation for those aged 12-15 years to get a booster dose five months after receiving the second dose of Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine.
Today, CDC is updating our recommendation for when many people can receive a booster shot, shortening the interval from 6 months to 5 months for people who received the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine. This means that people can now receive an mRNA booster shot 5 months after completing their Pfizer-BioNTech primary series. The booster interval recommendation for people who received the J&J vaccine (2 months) or the Moderna vaccine (6 months), has not changed.
The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) is adopting the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) recommendation to reduce the number of days for isolation and quarantine for the general public.
New updates to the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) Vax Verify immunization portal now includes use of the SMART™ Health Card. The SMART™ Health Card allows users to download a QR code, which individuals can use to easily confirm a their COVID-19 vaccination status at businesses, events, and other locations. Vax Verify is an online system that allows Illinois residents 18 years and older to check their COVID-19 vaccination record.
As we head into 2022, the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) is working to centralize COVID-19 contact tracing efforts in order to get information about isolation and identifying close contacts to infected individuals as soon as possible during times when cases are surging, and to decrease the burden on local health departments across the state. Beginning today, December 28, 2021, all positive cases entered into the State’s data systems associated with a cell phone number will receive an automated text message from IDPH.
The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) and the Chicago Department of Public Health (CDPH) today announced Illinois’ first known COVID-19 case caused by the Omicron COVID-19 variant (B.1.1.529), identified in a Chicago resident and known contact of a confirmed Omicron case from another state who visited Chicago. The Chicago resident – fully vaccinated with a booster dose – did not require hospitalization, is improving and has been self-isolating since their symptoms began. Public health officials continue to perform contact tracing. Additional information about the individual is not available to protect their identity and protected health information.
The California and San Francisco Departments of Public Health have confirmed that a recent case of COVID-19 among an individual in California was caused by the Omicron variant (B.1.1.529). The individual was a traveler who returned from South Africa on November 22, 2021. The individual, who was fully vaccinated and had mild symptoms that are improving, is self-quarantining and has been since testing positive. All close contacts have been contacted and have tested negative.