Lake Forest, Lake Bluff Vaccination Rates Lowest On North Shore

LAKE FOREST, IL — New data from state public health officials shows Lake Forest and Lake Bluff residents are vaccinated against the COVID-19 virus at a higher rate than state and county averages, but a lower rate than their neighbors to the south.

As of Tuesday, there were 13,039 fully vaccinated people in Lake Forest's 60045 ZIP code, or nearly 62 percent of the population, with over 67 percent having received at least the first dose of a two-dose coronavirus vaccine, according to the Illinois Department of Public Health.

Similarly, 63 percent were fully vaccinated and 68 percent had received a first dose in Lake Bluff's 60044 ZIP code.

Both towns have higher vaccination rates than the Lake County average of 55 percent, Cook County's 58 percent or Chicago's 54 percent vaccination rate.

Both Lake Bluff and Lake Forest's ZIP codes have higher vaccination rates than North Chicago's 60064 or 60085, which includes Park City and parts of Waukegan.

But the two North Shore towns trail nearby communities to the south and immediate west, including the ZIP codes comprising Deerfield, Glencoe, Highland Park, Highwood, Libertyville, Winnetka and the two ZIP codes with the highest vaccination rates in the north suburbs: Lincolnshire and Northbrook, where about 75 percent of people are vaccinated.

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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.

Statewide, 52 percent of Illinois residents have been fully vaccinated, according to IDPH. Among eligible Illinoisans aged 12 and above, including those who have been vaccinated in other states or by federal programs not included in the state database, 58 percent have been fully vaccinated.

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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.

No data is available from state or local public health officials regarding how many Lake Forest or Lake Bluff residents have died of COVID-19 complications.

According to the Lake County Health Department, 1,033 residents have died countywide. Of those, at least 573 have died at long-term care facilities, according to the Illinois Department of Public Health, which stopped updating that statistic this month.