Evanston's 69% Vaccination Rate Is Higher Than Kenilworth's, Lower Than Skokie's

EVANSTON, IL — New data from state public health officials shows residents of Evanston are significantly more vaccinated against the COVID-19 virus than state and county averages.

There are 51,771 fully vaccinated people in Evanston's 60201 and 60202 ZIP codes as of Tuesday, or 69 percent of the total population, according to the Illinois Department of Public Health.

That's higher than the suburban Cook County average of 58 percent or Chicago's 54 percent vaccination rate. It's also higher than Chicago's Rogers Park and West Ridge neighborhoods to Evanston's immediate south, where vaccination rates are below 59 percent.

Evanston's vaccination rate also exceeds the rate in the village of Kenilworth, where less than 66 percent of the population is fully vaccinated. But the city is trailing three other neighboring communities, according to the ZIP code level data from the state public health agency.

In Wilmette's 60091 ZIP code, nearly 72 percent of people are fully vaccinated, with 76 percent having gotten at least one dose.

More than 73 percent of people in Skokie's 60076 ZIP code are fully vaccinated, with more than 79 percent having received a first jab.

And in the 60203 ZIP code, better known as "Skevanston," nearly 78 percent of the population has been fully vaccinated, and 84.5 percent had gotten their first dose — compared to 75 percent in North Evanston and 74.5 percent in South Evanston.

Evanston's ZIP codes rank 56rd and 63rd in the state in percentage of vaccinated residents. More than 200 of the state's nearly 1,400 postal codes, mostly in rural areas, had less than 30 percent of their populations vaccinated, according to IDPH.

Meanwhile, 10 sparsely populated ZIP codes have 100 percent of their populations vaccinated.

Three with populations of 10,000 or more — two in Chicago's near North Side and one in Naperville — have more than 75 percent of their residents vaccinated, according to state data.

Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss said only two fully vaccinated Evanston residents have been hospitalized with an illness related to COVID-19. With more than 95 percent of residents aged 65 and older fully vaccinated, the city has not recorded a coronavirus death since the end of May.

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Federal public health officials have announced plans to offer booster shots to all adults who have received a vaccine from Pfizer or Moderna starting Sept. 20.

Health regulators have already approved boosters for certain immunocompromised people in an effort to offset the potential that the immunity the vaccine provides against coronavirus infections could wane after six to eight months.

Related: 3rd COVID-19 Shot Available To Some Illinoisans: Where To Get It

But even as the government plans to begin to offer third jabs, there are still millions of adults who have not received a first dose.

According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 7.57 million adult Illinois residents, or nearly 77 percent of the population aged 18 or over, have received at least one dose. More than 60 percent of adults are fully vaccinated.

That means about 5.25 million Illinois residents have not yet received a dose of vaccine.

The daily average number of doses administered in the state stood at about 40,000 Wednesday. The seven-day rolling average reached a peak of more than 130,000 in mid-April before falling below 15,000 a day in the second week of July.

While there is no data available about the number of vaccinated people who test positive for the coronavirus in Illinois, also known as breakthrough infections, there were 1,056 fully vaccinated people hospitalized with COVID-19 as of Wednesday, according to state health data.

Nearly 97 percent of the more than 7,000 people who have died from COVID-19 complications in Illinois since January have been unvaccinated, according to the state data, with just 223 deaths among those who have been fully vaccinated.