Gov. J.B. Pritzker speaks Tuesday, Dec. 8, 2020 during his daily COVID-19 briefing. (WTTW News)

With federal officials scheduled to consider authorizing emergency use of coronavirus vaccines developed by Pfizer and Moderna this month, state health officials are seeking to assuage residents’ vaccine-related fears and skepticism.

“Illinois will only distribute a vaccine that is deemed safe,” Gov. J.B. Pritzker said Tuesday afternoon as the state surpassed 800,000 coronavirus cases.

Full coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic from WTTW News.

The governor cited decades of research on coronaviruses that scientists can build on now, “like the spur of research following the 2003 COVID-1 epidemic.”

Vaccine candidates are rigorously evaluated and tested on animals prior to humans, Pritzker said, adding that once they are approved for human trials, vaccines go through multiple phases of testing and evaluations.

“When human trials begin for U.S. drug development, everything is reviewed extensively by institutional review boards. These are independent groups of scientists who help ensure the integrity of clinical research both from the standpoint of scientific validity and protection of participating individuals,” Pritzker said. “These independent scientists review a trial before it begins and periodically as it occurs with the sole focus protecting the rights and welfare of human participants.”

The Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine was found to be 95% effective in participants and 94% effective in people over age 65, according to Pritzker. “Almost all patients experienced little to no undesirable side effects from the vaccine, with Pfizer reporting that the most severe were fatigue and headache – both in under 4% of cases.”

On Nov. 20, Pfizer submitted thousands of pages of data and documentation on its vaccine to the FDA, which will not rely on any conclusions drawn by the company but conduct its own statistical calculations and re-evaluate months of safety data, Pritzker said.

On Thursday, the FDA is poised to consider granting emergency authorization to the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine. That meeting will be a review of conclusions reached by an “entirely independent body of vaccine experts from outside the FDA who have looked at all the of the FDA’s findings and Pfizer’s again,” Pritzker. “I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Illinois will only distribute a vaccine that’s deemed safe.”

Illinois already has a team reviewing an analysis released by the FDA on Tuesday morning on the Pfizer vaccine, according to the governor. “We all want to make sure this vaccine is safe, and additional sets of eyes on the evidence can only be helpful,” he said.

To further illustrate the safety of COVID-19 vaccine trials, Pritzker invited Bonnie Blue, a 68-year-old Illinois resident who participated in the Moderna trial, to share her story. Blue, who does not know if she received the vaccine or a placebo, has asthma which, she says, landed her in the hospital and on life support at least 13 times.

“These trials were not something I was planning to do. I was among the large group of people of the mindset of ‘I’ll wait a year or two then I’ll try it,’” Blue said, adding she was inspired to volunteer as the coronavirus numbers climbed. “For a person who has been on life support so many times (participating in the trial) was a huge risk. … But I’m here, I’m fine. I did not have horrible side effects. You have a little fatigue, headache and those resolve.”

Blue encouraged people who are skeptical of COVID-19 vaccines to do their research, while urging everyone to wear face masks, use hand sanitizer and “love people from a distance.”

“You want to be able to be alive when all the vaccines roll out,” she said.

While vaccines could be administered to some Illinois health care workers and long-term care residents by Christmas, it will take much longer for the general public can get vaccinated. “We are hoping for everyone to get the vaccine in the coming year,” said Illinois Department of Public Health Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike.

State officials reported 7,910 new confirmed and probable coronavirus cases and 145 additional deaths Tuesday, bringing statewide totals to 804,174 cases and 13,487 deaths since the pandemic began.

More than 30 Cook County residents were among the deaths reported Tuesday, including two men in their 30s, according to state health officials.

Labs processed 95,825 tests since Monday, according to IDPH, which stated more than 11.2 million tests have been completed to date.

As of Monday night, 5,199 people were hospitalized with COVID-19 in Illinois, and of those, 1,071 patients were in intensive care units and 626 were on ventilators, according to state health officials.

The preliminary seven-day statewide positivity for cases is 9.9% – down from 10.6% a week ago, according to state health officials.

Test positivity across the state – the number of positive tests as a percentage of total tests – is 11.8%. That rate is slightly higher in both Chicago (12.6%) and suburban Cook County (12.7%), according to IDPH regional data.

Contact Kristen Thometz: @kristenthometz | (773) 509-5452 |  [email protected]