Good morning, Chicago. On Wednesday, state officials announced 7,123 new cases of COVID-19 and 146 additional fatalities. The new numbers came as Illinois Veterans’ Affairs officials acknowledged that employees who tested positive for COVID-19 continued to work at the state’s home in LaSalle where 33 veterans died.
Meanwhile, U.S. officials said they’re actively negotiating for additional purchases of Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine after passing up a chance to lock in a contract this summer. The FDA also said that some Pfizer vaccine vials may contain extra doses.
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Gov. J.B. Pritzker and federal health officials clashed Wednesday over whether the state’s next two shipments of Pfizer’s vaccine were being cut back, putting on display the logistical complications of a massive vaccination distribution effort that’s slowly getting off the ground in Illinois.
Pritzker said anticipated shipments nationwide in the next two weeks both have been cut in half, which “will likely cut our state’s projected Pfizer shipments this month roughly by half.” But a HHS spokesperson said there have been no changes to the three official allocations that have been made to the states.
The 975 coveted doses of the COVID-19 vaccine expected to arrive by police escort as soon as Thursday morning will create a new challenge for Roseland Community Hospital in a year that has been overrun by them.
Like other medical centers across the country in recent days, Roseland has been tasked with deciding which of its hundreds of employees — for reasons both practical and symbolic — should be the first to get the injection they’ve all needed since the pandemic began. Meet Roseland’s first five.
Mayor Lori Lightfoot apologized to social worker Anjanette Young on Wednesday for the Chicago Police Department’s 2019 raid on her home, during which officers handcuffed her while she was naked, and disavowed her Law Department’s extraordinary attempt to block WBBM-Ch. 2 from airing body camera footage of the incident.
“I want to tell Ms. Young (that) I am deeply sorry and troubled that her home was invaded, and that she had to face the humiliation and trauma that she suffered. That is just not right,” Lightfoot said in an emotional news conference. “It simply should not have happened. And I will make sure that there is full accountability for what took place.”
Also on Wednesday, Lightfoot followed through on a pledge to introduce a plan to the City Council that would eliminate loopholes in the Welcoming City Ordinance that allow police to in some cases cooperate with federal immigration agents.
Monday night should have been 92-year-old Rose Haddad’s annual dinner next to the giant Christmas tree inside the Walnut Room. But this year, COVID-19 forced a beautiful twist on a tradition she’s upheld for more than 80 years. Tribune columnist Heidi Stevens has the story.
Three Floyds reportedly closes brewpub — this time for good — due to pandemic
Early in the COVID-19 pandemic, Three Floyds Brewing said it would close its brewpub and taproom indefinitely due to the virus. Indefinitely has become forever, according to the Times of Northwest Indiana.
The newspaper reported Wednesday afternoon that the iconic northwest Indiana brewery has informed investors that its brewpub, which operated a full kitchen and poured a broad array of Three Floyds beers, will not reopen after being closed for seven months.
