On January 28, State Senator Donald DeWitte (R-St Charles) joined his Senate Republican colleagues to issue a letter to Governor J.B. Pritkzer asking for the Administration to answer for the failures with the ongoing rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine.
“The state’s vaccine numbers are staggering and completely unacceptable. The fact that only 20 percent of the allocated vaccines for long-term care residents have been administered is an utter disgrace,” said Sen. DeWitte. “These are the people that this virus has had the most devastating effect on. Getting them vaccinated as quickly as possible should be our state’s top priority.”
As of this morning, the Illinois Department of Public Health was reporting that out of the 537,050 doses of vaccines available and allotted to our long-term care facilities, only 20 percent of them have been administered to its residents.
Additionally, according to the latest data from the New York Times, Illinois ranks 47th in overall vaccine distribution, with just 4.8 percent of Illinoisans receiving at least one shot.
“If our long-term care numbers weren’t already bad enough, it turns out that our state is near the very bottom of overall vaccine distribution,” said Sen. DeWitte. “The Governor must take responsibility for this failed rollout and provide the people of Illinois with a clear explanation with how this happened and what is being done to fix it.”
