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PROPOSED RESOLUTION
REQUESTING A MEETING OF THE COOK COUNTY HEALTH AND HOSPITALS COMMITTEE TO RECEIVE AN UPDATE FROM COOK COUNTY HEALTH AND THE COOK COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC HEALTH ON THEIR COVID-19 IMMUNIZATION and MITIGATION PLANS IN SUBURBAN COOK COUNTY
WHEREAS, on January 27, 2020, the United States Secretary of Health and Human Services declared that COVID-19, a respiratory illness spread by close contact through respiratory droplets, presents a public health emergency, and the World Health Organization characterized the COVID-19 outbreak as a pandemic on March 11, 2020; and
WHEREAS, despite advances in treatment protocols and the availability of vaccines, COVID-19 continues to be a serious threat across the U.S. and Cook County, and;
WHEREAS, recently Chicago and Cook County have seen an uptick in COVID-19 cases prompting a medium risk level designation of community spread, and;
WHEREAS, as of November 30, 2022, there have been 655,646 confirmed cases of SARS-CoV-2 in Suburban Cook County under the jurisdiction of the Cook County Department of Public Health with 7,309 reported deaths; and
WHEREAS, on August 31, 2022, the FDA amended the emergency use authorizations (EUAs) of the Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine and the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine to authorize bivalent formulations of the vaccines (in individuals in individuals 18 years of age and older for Moderna and 12 years of age and older for Pfizer-BioNTech) for use as a single booster dose at least two months following primary OR at least two months following monovalent booster vaccination; and
WHEREAS, the FDA has also revised the EUA of the Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine and the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine to remove the use of the monovalent Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccines for booster administration for individuals 18 years of age and older and 12 years of age and older, respectively; however, they continue to be authorized for use for administration of a primary series for individuals 6 months of age and up; and
WHEREAS, the Novavax COVID-19 vaccine is currently approved for individuals 12 and up; and
WHEREAS, the ever-changing nature of this virus has necessitated routine updates for the benefit of Commissioners and the public to stay abreast of the latest mitigation and vaccine protocols, proving essential to combatting the pandemic and to building back better; and
WHEREAS, the Cook County Department of Public Health (CCDPH) is the Illinois certified local health department for suburban Cook County, Illinois, with the exception of Evanston, Skokie, Oak Park, and Stickney Township, serving 127 municipalities; and
WHEREAS, the Cook County Department of Public Health (CCDPH) working alongside the Cook County Department of Emergency Management and Regional Security is charged with making the COVID-19 vaccines available to people in CCDPH’s jurisdiction of suburban Cook County; and
WHEREAS, CCDPH is continuing to work with partners at all levels, including hospitals, health care providers and community leaders, to develop flexible and responsive COVID-19 vaccination programs that can accommodate different vaccines and increase uptake of boosters by informing the public and advertising about the vaccines importance with the Boost Up Cook County COVID and flu vaccination campaign, which is particularly important due to the possibility of a ‘Tripledemic’ of COVID, Flu and RSV this winter; and
WHEREAS, equally important has been to ensure the vaccines are distributed in an equitable fashion, prioritizing those areas and residents of the county that have been most impacted by COVID-19 as a result of longstanding disparities in healthcare system access and delivery; and
WHEREAS, as of November 30, 2022, CCH and CCDPH have administered 1,625,108 million complete vaccine series to suburban residents or 71% of the total population; however, only 14.8% of the population is up to date on recommended vaccines to include boosters.
NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the Cook County Health and Hospitals Committee convene a monthly meeting to discuss the Cook County Department of Public Health’s COVID-19 mitigation and vaccination efforts for Suburban Cook County; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Cook County Department of Public Health and any other identified Cook County entity involved in Cook County’s COVID-19 response will provide a monthly COVID-19 update to the Cook County Health and Hospitals Committee. This will include but not be limited to their COVID-19 vaccine plans, contract tracing and mitigation plans and any other pertinent information regarding COVID-19 or other infectious diseases of concern for Suburban Cook County including analyses of the latest data on age, geographic, racial, and other pertinent category impacts.
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