Good morning, Chicago. On Thursday, Illinois health officials announced 2,838 new confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 and 102 additional fatalities. Also, the state said the first case of the coronavirus variant that originated South Africa has been identified in Illinois.
Meanwhile, don’t bring the shovel back into the basement just yet. Forecasters say the Chicago area can expect a dayslong stretch of below average temperatures, with the potential for snow. And if you’re wondering how how February 2021 stacks up in terms of temperature and snow, check out our charts.
Here’s more coronavirus news and other top stories you need to know to start your day.
For your smart speaker | Join our COVID-19 Facebook group | More newsletters | Puzzles & Games | Daily horoscope
The federal government is sending additional doses of COVID-19 vaccines to pharmacies across the country, but in Illinois, those doses will only be available at Walgreens — not CVS Health, Mariano’s, Jewel-Osco or Walmart.
Walgreens expects to begin administering the extra doses Friday, in its Illinois stores in medically underserved and “socially vulnerable” areas. Walgreens anticipates initially receiving about 39,300 doses a week, which will be in addition to the doses it already receives through the Illinois Department of Public Health.
Health care workers, students spending free time as volunteers giving COVID-19 vaccination shots. ‘This is one of the most therapeutic things’
Cook County joins Chicago in rejecting Pritzker’s expansion of COVID-19 vaccine eligibility to people with preexisting health conditions
The first group of Chicago Public Schools students and staff — prekindergarten and special education cluster programs — returned to in-person classrooms Thursday, a day after the Chicago Teachers Union approved a reopening deal.
Mayor Lori Lightfoot called it an important moment “toward fully reopening and returning our city back to a sense of normalcy for the students, for the teachers, for the whole school community and for the parents is also a critical inflection point that urges us to come together, reflect on these past 11 months and re-imagine our path forward.”
The conversation about equity, inclusion and diversity started before 2020. Black leaders in notable institutions have been doing the work in their own ways for years. Here, they talk with the Tribune about that work and the ways others can follow suit.
Chicago activist Fred Hampton was chairman of the Illinois chapter of the Black Panther Party and deputy chairman of the national Black Panther Party in the late 1960s. He founded the Rainbow Coalition, an alliance of the Black Panthers, Young Patriots, Young Lords, and Chicago gangs to help communities end infighting and promote change. Directed by Shaka King, “Judas and the Black Messiah,” depicts the betrayal of Hampton by William O’Neal, an informant for the FBI who has been tasked to take him down. Here is the story behind the film.
William Lee column: ‘Judas and the Black Messiah’ captures the death of Fred Hampton, still a controversy 50 years later
Michael Phillips review: Retelling the death of Black Panther leader Fred Hampton
Popeyes hopes to strike gold again with a new fried fish sandwich, launched today. We take a taste.
If one chain is responsible for the fried chicken sandwich onslaught, it’s definitely Popeyes. Its surprisingly solid fried chicken sandwich launched in 2019, before selling out so quickly that the company had to take it off the menu to restock. Now, Popeyes hopes to do the same thing with a fried fish sandwich, which launched Thursday. This is what the Tribune’s Nick Kindelsperger had to say about it.
