COVID-19 Updates (as of 12/16)

• 74,184,974 cases of COVID-19 globally
• 15,820,042 cases of COVID-19 in the United States
• 870,600 cases of COVID-19 in Illinois
• 8495 daily new cases of COVID-19 in Illinois (7-day average)

Vaccine Efforts 

A panel of experts from Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee, or VRBPAC, have endorsed the FDA in approving the Pfizer-BioNTech Vaccine. The FDA has followed this endorsement and authorized the vaccine for distribution in the U.S. Distribution has already begun, with the first to receive it being healthcare workers. As more doses of the vaccine are produced, healthcare workers, frontline essential workers, and high-risk individuals will be prioritized. The U.S. hopes to have these groups mostly vaccinated by February, with the rest of the general public receiving vaccines throughout Spring. 

The U.S. is one of now 11 countries to authorize the Pfizer vaccine, with the others being the United Kingdom, Canada, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Jordan, Oman, Kuwait, and Singapore.

The public has questioned the safety of the vaccine due to how quickly it was produced, but the Pfizer vaccine has completed all necessary clinical trials and produced no extremely harmful side effects.