Who will get a coronavirus vaccine first?

Posted on December 1, 2020
Shanna Siegers of Steger, Ill., participated in Tuesday’s coronavirus briefing and shared her story. (Dave Dahl/WJBC)

 

By Dave Dahl

SPRINGFIELD – With talk of a coronavirus vaccine becoming closer to reality, the question becomes – who gets it first?

Dr. Ngozi Ezike, director of the Illinois Department of Public Health, says there are priorities: “I don’t even think it means that ‘this person is more important than this person,’ but (it means) understanding and appreciating that there are really some high-risk groups we need to focus on,” Ezike said at Tuesday’s coronavirus briefing. “People who are involved with the public all the time, who work in the ICU doing procedures that can cause the virus to spread in the air, the person cleaning the room of the covid patient. All of these are high-risk.”

A woman from Steger, Shanna Siegers, told her family’s story — her husband passed away in April, while she and their son also tested positive. The Pritzker administration brought her on via video to add to the daily message of “wear a mask, wash your hands.”

Illinois Tuesday announced 12,542 new cases and 125 additional deaths.

Dave Dahl can be reached at [email protected]

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