Dr. Allison Arwady, the commissioner of the Chicago Department of Public Health, said the uptick in virus cases in Michigan is of special concern because it appears to be driven in part by the spread of more transmissible variants of COVID-19.

Confirmed cases of the coronavirus have risen 23% in Chicago during the past seven days, prompting Chicago’s top health official, Dr. Allison Arwady, to say Tuesday she is “really worried” the city could be on the cusp of another surge of the pandemic.

Chicago’s top doctor explains what the state’s latest vaccine announcement means for Chicago residents.

The next phase of Chicago’s vaccination effort will allow all essential workers and those with underlying health conditions to get doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, Mayor Lori Lightfoot announced Wednesday.

Even as the first doses of the COVID-19 vaccine were administered Tuesday morning at the United Center, confusion swirled over how many appointments remained available, who was eligible for those slots and when they would open for thousands desperate for the life-saving shot.

With the mass vaccination site at the United Center set to open Tuesday morning, Chicago’s top doctor acknowledged that getting an appointment has been “tricky” because of changing rules and a website that crashed under high demand.

Only two people who work or live at skilled nursing facilities in Chicago who were fully inoculated against COVID-19 have contracted the virus, showing that the vaccine is very effective, Dr. Allison Arwady told aldermen on Wednesday.

With the federal government ramping up its vaccine distribution efforts and a third vaccine potentially becoming available next week, Chicago could begin vaccinating more groups of residents in March, according to Dr. Allison Arwady.

Chicago could start receiving Johnson & Johnson’s single-dose COVID-19 vaccine in early March, Chicago Department of Public Health Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady said Wednesday.

Visitors to Chicago who have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 do not have to quarantine for 10 days or record a negative test for COVID-19, the city’s top doctor said Tuesday.

“There's not a requirement for employment for everyone (to get the vaccine),” Mayor Lori Lightfoot said during a press conference Tuesday. “But we certainly want to encourage everyone to take advantage of this life-saving vaccine.”

It’s been 10 years since the infamous Groundhog Day blizzard left hundreds of motorists stranded on Lake Shore Drive. As another major winter storm bears down on Chicago, officials are putting to use lessons learned from that debacle.

A QR code that allows eligible Chicagoans to sign up for their second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine is being shared, inappropriately, with family and friends, health officials say. And it’s causing headaches for the health department.

Four city-run COVD-19 test facilities will be closed from Friday through Wednesday as an arctic blast bears down on the city, officials announced Thursday. The facilities require staff members and volunteers to work outside to test people inside their cars.

The scheduler will include appointments at mass vaccination sites operated by the city as well as those offered by AMITA Health, Erie Family Health, Innovative Express Care and Rush University Medical Center.

“I am optimistic that we will be able to increase capacity soon, but it would be irresponsible and dangerous to rush our reopening and undo the incredible progress we have made as a city,” Mayor Lori Lightfoot said in a statement.