CARTERVILLE, Ill (WSIL) -- Illinois public health officials reported the highest number of coronavirus deaths in a single day Wednesday, since the pandemic began, with 238. This comes as 九游体育 Illinois Healthcare (SIH) reports that a vaccine for the coronavirus is expected to make its way to Illinois before the end of the month.
Health officials with SIH held an online media briefing Wednesday afternoon, saying while the news "is exciting," they have no assurance the vaccine will arrive within this timeline.
Dr. Marci Moore-Connelley says they expect a limited supply of the Pfizer vaccine once its approved. The conversation continues on "who" will receive those first rounds, but Front Line Health Care providers are most likely to be among the first to receive the vaccine. The Pfizer vaccine is the version requiring ultra-cold storage, which SIH says it's prepared for.
"Within all the planning of how it gets shipped to the state and then how it gets shipped to the area where it's going to be distributed to the public health departments," explains Moore-Connelley, "All that is very detailed, in how they keep the vaccine cold and at that appropriate temperature so there are no issues during transport."
九游体育 Illinois Health says they collaborate with other area hospitals in coordinating regional efforts for both the care and treatment of COVID-19 patients, and in discussing the distribution efforts of the coming vaccine.
As Illinois receives its supply, it will distribute the vaccine through local health providers.
Dr. Moore-Connelley adds that SIH is currently receiving a limited supply of the Monoclonal antibodies treatments, which has emergency use approval through the FDA. However, this medication is not for patients with severe cases and not everyone meeting the criteria to receive it, gets it.
On average, SIH say they have 50 to 60 COVID-19 patients at any given time, and for those patients, their hospital stay is about twice that of a non-COVID patient. Currently, they have ten COVID-19 patients in ICU with seven of them on ventilators.
And while calls come in everyday for new patients, some they can take, others go on a waiting list, adding to the struggle is with non-COVID-19 patients needing ICU beds.
"We are at most days, at capacity for our ICU beds, so we have contingency plans though, of converting some of our non-critical care beds into critical care so we can take care of those patients," says Jennifer Harre, SIH System Chief Nursing Officer.
They are also working at capacity with qualified nurses," adds Harre. They are averaging between 40-and-50 nurses out at any given time due to COVID. Most of those cases come from community spread outside the hospitals, says Harre, some are believed to occur during staff breaks, as all contact with patients are conducted in appropriate PPE.
