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.

In a statement, AstraZeneca said its COVID-19 vaccine was 79% effective at preventing symptomatic COVID-19 and was 100% effective in stopping severe disease and hospitalization.

This month marks the anniversary of pandemic-induced shutdowns across Illinois. As we close out a year of COVID-19, we assess the road behind us, and the journey ahead. 

COVID-19's deadly toll has hit Black and Latino Chicagoans hardest, accounting for 71% of all deaths in Chicago, while those groups make up just 66% of the city’s population, according to city data. 

Illinois residents who work in higher education, government and media will be eligible for the COVID-19 starting Monday, Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced Friday. The expansion of the vaccination effort does not include residents of Cook County or Chicago.

Students can safely sit just 3 feet apart in the classroom as long as they wear masks but should be kept the usual 6 feet away from one another at sporting events, assemblies, lunch or chorus practice, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Friday.

Health care workers have been front-row witnesses to tragedy, as they’ve seen patients get sick and die from COVID-19, but also hope, as they help patients recover. What does the future of that treatment look like? 

From rates of infection to unemployment following the economic shutdown, some residents of Chicago have been cut deeper by the pandemic. We talk about the specific challenges facing hard-hit communities, and some of the support systems in place.

A year after the coronavirus swept Chicago and upended life as Chicagoans knew it, Mayor Lori Lightfoot said the city is poised to recover after one of the most difficult years in its history, and she is optimistic that there will be an ample vaccine supply in the city in April and May.

A coalition of health care institutions and professionals working together as West Side United are providing relief to businesses and individuals affected by the COVID-19 pandemic through small business grants and emergency rental assistance. 

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.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker is expected to announce fresh guidance Thursday that will ease some current restrictions in place to curb the spread of COVID-19.

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.

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.

March Madness arrives as vaccinations increase in the U.S. and the death toll from COVID-19 has dropped, but health experts note that many seniors and other at-risk people still haven’t been vaccinated.