SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) – The initial delivery of vaccines to prevent COVID-19 in Illinois will be distributed among the 50 counties with the highest death rates per capita, Gov. J.B. Pritzker said Friday as the dreadful illness caused by the coronavirus claimed another 148 lives. Officials are expecting an opening shipment of 109,000 doses as early as mid-month. Hundreds of thousands more are expected in subsequent weeks but Pritzker would not predict how long it would take to vaccinate those first in line. Dr. Ngozi Ezike, the state public health director, reported 10,526 newly confirmed cases of COVID-19. The 148 deaths were the eighth-highest single-day total.
