Vaccine eligibility in Illinois will open up to everyone by April 12, but there are a lot of different windows of eligibility leading up to that date.

Sharone Mitchell Jr. is coming in at a turbulent time: Jury trials resumed Monday with a massive backlog of cases, and a controversial criminal justice bill was signed by the governor last month. All of this, of course, comes against the backdrop of COVID-19.

A year after the state shut down to stop the spread of the coronavirus, officials announced the opening of a new mass vaccination site in Cook County that will be open to all eligible Illinois residents starting Friday.

Chicago is pushing ahead with plans to expand access to COVID-19 vaccines and President Joe Biden has asked states to make all adults vaccine-eligible by May 1. But local governments say further expansion is entirely dependent on vaccine supply.

Officials will open new appointments at the county’s five mass vaccination sites for the residents who are newly eligible at noon Friday. More than 68% of individuals 65 and older in suburban Cook County have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, officials said.

A just-launched program will bring coronavirus vaccines to residents at temporary pop-up sites across suburban Cook County as part of an “equity-focused approach to the vaccine distribution,” Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle said Thursday.

Applications for the new program are being accepted through April 9. Suburban residents can receive up to $15,000 in assistance to cover up to 12 months of missed rent and utility payments and up to three months of future rent payments. 

Officials also announced the loosening of restrictions on alcohol sales and increased capacity for indoor fitness classes, performance venues, movie theaters and personal services. 

Cook County Chief Judge Timothy Evans announced target dates to resume in-person jury trials on March 22 at the Leighton Criminal Courthouse at 26th Street and on March 29 at the Bridgeview Courthouse.

With the move to Phase 4, suburban Cook County joins Chicago under the lowest level of state-imposed restrictions since the beginning of October and before the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic swept the state.

A year after the first coronavirus case was reported in Illinois, officials launched a new mass coronavirus vaccination site, website and hotline for those who live and work in Cook County. But demand for the vaccine still far outweighs supply.

The state of Illinois is expanding vaccine eligibility beginning Monday, meaning school-based staff and other front-line employees will be able to start getting inoculated

The new sites will provide vaccinations to health care workers this week and will begin vaccinating residents ages 65 and older as well as front-line essential workers starting Monday.

Illinois will soon begin the next phase of its COVID-19 vaccination effort, extending doses to residents ages 65 and older as well as essential front-line workers. The rollout is again prompting officials to urge residents get the vaccine once it becomes available to them.

Erica Reddick, a longtime public defender and judge, is replacing Judge LeRoy Martin Jr., who has been assigned to serve as an appellate court justice.

The Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office handled a record 16,049 deaths in 2020, with coronavirus-related deaths accounting for more than half of those cases, according to officials.