COVID-19 second booster available in Champaign-Urbana

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) expanded eligibility for an additional dose of the COVID-19 vaccine for certain individuals. People that fit in the pre-requisites are eligible to take the second booster.

Photo by Fred Zwicky | Illinois News Bureau

“Boosters are safe, and people over the age of 50 can now get an additional booster four months after their prior dose to increase their protection further. This is especially important for those 65 and older and those 50 and older with underlying medical conditions that increase their risk for severe disease from COVID-19,” says CDC’s announcement.

The vaccines are available upon registration at Champaign-Urbana Public Health District, Promise Healthcare, Carle Health, OSF HealthCare, Christie Clinic, and Pharmacies. Visit the website www.vaccinefinder.org to schedule appointments at local pharmacies.

As important as getting vaccinated is to get tested in case of having any symptoms. People who need to take a test in the state of Illinois can order At-home rapid tests or head to one of the SHIELD saliva-based test locations.

According to the Deputy Administrator and the Epidemiologist of the Champaign-Urbana Public Health District (CUPHD), Awais Vaid, people who are fully vaccinated still have to take some precautions if test positive. “If you tested at home and the result is positive, if you have symptoms or if you don’t have symptoms, you should still isolate for a period of 5 days,” recommends.

All the instructions on what to do once a person tests positive are posted on the Public Health District website. “If you have any questions, you can always call or email Public Health. We still have case investigators and contacts that can talk to you,” says Vaid.

Residents can contact CUPHD by phone at 217-239-7877 or email: coronavirus@c-uphd.org. For other information, visit the website: https://www.c-uphd.org/champaign-urbana-illinois-coronavirus-information.html

This article was published on the UI7 Newsroom website.

Published: By: Manu Ferreira - 4/08/2022 02:33:00 PM

Illinois community COVID-19 testing sites closing on March 31

The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) announced that the ten community-based testing sites in the state are closing today, March 31st.

Market Place testing site in Champaign | Credit: Manu Ferreira 

Health officials say the end of federal funding and the drop in demand for tests is the reason the operations will be shut down in Aurora, Bloomington, Champaign, Fairview Heights, Rockford, Arlington Heights, Peoria, Harwood Heights, South Holland, and Waukegan.

“The State had a contract to run those sites, and it was supposed to be closed last year. But we had the surge of Delta and then the Omicron in the Fall as well. So, the State decided to extend those,” explains Awais Vaid, the Deputy Administrator and the Epidemiologist of the Champaign-Urbana Public Health District.

Demand for tests at the Community-Based sites reached a peak of more than 1,040 tests per day at each site in November 2020. However, according to IDPH, this number dropped considerably with each site seeing fewer than 50 individuals per day.

“Right now, the testing site at the Market Place Mall was not being utilized as much. Five or 10 people in a day were testing, so the numbers were very small.”

Rainika Young, who works at the Market Place site collecting samples for tests, says the demand is not as high as before. “When I first started working here it was crazy busy. The line was all the way back to the mall. But now, we get maybe a couple of cars every 10 or 15 minutes.”
According to Dr. Vaid, another reason for the closing of the community-based test sites are the At-home rapid tests, which are offered for free by the Federal government, and the SHIELD saliva-based test. “It is also sponsored by the State. So, the State is already paying for testing for anybody that wants to get tested. It is much faster and easier to do as well,” affirms.

The SHIELD system was created by the University of Illinois in 2020 and was recently expanded statewide. The CovidSHIELD requires only a small amount of saliva from an individual and provides results within six to 12 hours. It is also an option free of charge.

You can order at-home COVID-19 tests on the website www.covidtests.gov. To schedule a saliva-based test visit the website www.shieldillinois.com.

Five of the locations that are closing (Aurora, Arlington Heights, South Holland, Fairview Heights, and Peoria) also provide vaccinations. This service will be suspended as well. To find COVID-19 vaccines available near you, visit www.vaccines.gov.

This article was published on the UI7 Newsroom website.

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Published: By: Manu Ferreira - 3/31/2022 12:31:00 PM

University of Illinois’s COVID-19 Test Now Available All Across the State

The University of Illinois’s system for COVID-19 testing has been expanded across the state. The saliva-based test now can be used in schools, community colleges, and communities sites.

Photo courtesy by CovidShield

The CovidSHIELD was developed by the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign in 2020 to rapidly detect the virus in students, faculty, and staff, and mitigate infection on campus. The goal was to enable in-person learning during the 2020-21 academic year.

Due to its efficiency, the system was expanded to attend the whole state of Illinois. 

Now, the SHIELD program provides a saliva-based test to over 1,600 K-12 schools, 57 universities and community colleges, and at 25 community sites. 

That means that not only students or employees can take the test, but the population also will be able to get tested for free.

After taking the test, the state receives all results to process data and identify which variants of COVID-19 are predominant among the samples. 

To find out a nearby location available and schedule an appointment, visit the website www.shieldillinois.com/get-tested/.

About the test

The CovidSHIELD requires only a small amount of saliva from an individual and provides results within six to 12 hours. The process bypasses the RNA extraction step that is common to many COVID-19 tests. 

That speeds up the process and reduces the cost when compared to nasal swab tests, while also avoiding supply chain shortage.

More than 4 million tests were performed over the last year. According to a recent U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)’s study, its results on negative samples matched a comparator test 99% of the time.

Another study conducted by FDA showed that covidSHIELD's results on positive samples matched a comparator test 96% of the time.

*This article was published on the UI7 Newsroom website.

Published: By: Manu Ferreira - 2/11/2022 08:30:00 AM