In this Sept. 14, 2021, file photo, a syringe is prepared with the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine at a clinic at the Reading Area Community College in Reading, Pa. (AP Photo / Matt Rourke)

The U.S. moved a step closer Wednesday to offering booster doses of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine to senior citizens and others at high risk from the virus as the Food and Drug Administration signed off on the targeted use of extra shots.

President Joe Biden speaks from the East Room of the White House in Washington, Wednesday, Aug 18, 2021, on the COVID-19 response and vaccination program. (AP Photo / Susan Walsh)
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President Joe Biden on Wednesday announced that his administration will require that nursing home staff be vaccinated against COVID-19 as a condition for those facilities to continue receiving federal Medicare and Medicaid funding.

(WTTW News)

While 84% of nursing home residents in Illinois have received the COVID-19 vaccine, just 62% of the workers who care for them are fully vaccinated, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Maria Elena Estamilla, 62, left and her daughter Esmeralda Triquiz pose for a photo June 30, 2021, in Chicago’s Pilsen neighborhood. (AP Photo / Shafkat Anowar)

Illinois is among a handful of Democratic-run states extending health insurance coverage to adult immigrants in the country illegally, including seniors.

(WTTW News)

Investment groups wager on future demand for senior housing. Crain’s Chicago Business reporter Danny Ecker has details on that story and more.

In this May 13, 2021 file photo, President Joe Biden speaks in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington. (AP Photo / Evan Vucci)
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President Joe Biden and progressive Democrats have proposed to lower Medicare’s eligibility age to 60, to help older adults get affordable coverage. But a new study finds that Medicare can be more expensive than other options, particularly for many people of modest means.

Spring has arrived, and many older adults who have been vaccinated are emerging from hibernation imposed by the coronavirus pandemic. (AP Photo / Gene J. Puskar)

From shopping in person or going to the gym to bigger milestones like visiting family, the people who were once most at risk from COVID-19 are beginning to move forward with getting their lives on track. More than 47% of Americans who are 65 and older are now fully vaccinated.

The second doses of the Pfizer vaccine in Chicago were administered at Norwegian American Hospital on Tuesday, Jan. 5, 2021. (WTTW News)

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.

(WTTW News)

The first appointments for Illinois residents ages 65 and older to get the COVID-19 vaccine at the United Center mass vaccination site can be made starting Thursday morning. Here’s what you need to know about making an appointment.

(WTTW News via CNN)

The first round of COVID-19 vaccination administration to skilled nursing homes in Illinois is complete, and assisted living sites are set to finish their first round by Feb. 15. We discuss the state of the pandemic in nursing homes.

(WTTW News via CNN)

One week ago, Illinois entered Phase 1B of its COVID-19 vaccine rollout, which includes people ages 65 and older. But signing up to get the vaccine can be complicated — especially for older adults.

(WTTW News)

Many people in the state are clamoring for the coronavirus vaccine. But some of those who have the chance to get the shot aren’t taking it, including employees at various state government-run veterans homes.

(WTTW News)

Nursing homes have been hit especially hard by the pandemic. One Chicago-based foundation is trying to change the way these facilities are ranked — a move they say will put the focus on the care of residents.

Boxes containing the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine are prepared to be shipped at the McKesson distribution center in Olive Branch, Miss., Sunday, Dec. 20, 2020. (AP Photo / Paul Sancya, Pool)

A federal advisory panel put people 75 and older and essential workers like firefighters, teachers and grocery store workers next in line for COVID-19 shots as a second vaccine began rolling out Sunday to hospitals.

(beejees / Pixabay)

Findings from an investigation into a COVID-19 outbreak that has sickened more than 200 people revealed the facility was using hand sanitizer that was not effective against the virus and lax social distancing among staff.

(WTTW News)

As COVID-19 continues to surge in Illinois, nursing homes and other long-term care facilities are bracing for what’s likely to come.