In less than a month, all Illinois residents ages 16 and older will be eligible for the coronavirus vaccine, Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced Thursday. “COVID-19 has not gone away, but the light we can see at the end of the tunnel is getting brighter and brighter as more people get vaccinated,” he said.

A new call center will help eligible Illinois residents — including those without access to the internet — secure a coveted COVID-19 vaccine appointment by phone. 

In an effort to boost the vaccination rate in Chicago communities that have been disproportionately impacted by COVID-19, city officials announced Saturday that residents of four additional zip codes would be eligible to make appointments at the United Center mass vaccination site.

Twenty-five more cases of a COVID-19 variant first discovered in the United Kingdom that is believed to be more transmissible have been found in Illinois in the past seven days, according to data released Thursday by the Illinois Department of Public Health.

A variant of the coronavirus first discovered in Brazil and believed to be more transmissible is present in Chicago, officials announced Friday. The person who tested positive for the variant had not traveled outside Illinois, according to officials.

Twenty-seven more cases of a COVID-19 variant first discovered in the United Kingdom that is believed to be more transmissible have been discovered in Illinois in the past five days, according to data released Tuesday by the Illinois Department of Public Health.

No new cases of two COVID-19 variants believed to be more transmissible have been discovered in Illinois in the past seven days, according to data released Thursday by the Illinois Department of Public Health.

Illinois will soon be able to ramp up its vaccination effort. “Things are getting better,” Gov. J.B. Pritzker said Wednesday. “This pandemic will end, but in the meantime, we have to mask up, help each other out and we’ll get through this together.”

Twenty-two more cases of a COVID-19 variant first discovered in the United Kingdom that is believed to be more transmissible have been discovered in Illinois in the past seven days, according to data released Thursday by the Illinois Department of Public Health.

Starting this week, more coronavirus vaccines will be allocated to people receiving their second dose of the vaccine than those getting their first due to limited federal vaccine supplies, according to officials.

A variant of the coronavirus first discovered in South Africa and believed to be more transmissible is present in Illinois, state health officials announced Thursday.

With federal vaccine supplies steadily increasing, Illinois will soon begin vaccinating people ages 16 and older who have certain underlying health conditions, Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced Wednesday. But Chicago is still struggling to meet demand for the vaccine.

The variant, known as B.1.1.7, was identified in samples of COVID-19 positive tests taken outside of Chicago and suburban Cook County for the first time, according to a spokesperson for the Illinois Department of Public Health.

Illinois legislators are now eligible to get the coronavirus vaccine as part of phase 1B, Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced Wednesday, but the governor says he’s going to wait his turn to be vaccinated.

Illinois health officials announced Wednesday that they are temporarily redirecting approximately 97,000 COVID-19 vaccine doses that have not yet been used in order to increase the limited supply of vaccine to those who are eligible under phase 1B.

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.