The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) on Friday reported 17,462 new confirmed and probable cases of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Illinois, including 183 additional deaths since reporting last Friday, Oct. 29. Of Illinois’ total population, 66 percent has received at least one COVID-19 vaccine dose and almost 61 percent of Illinois’ total population is fully vaccinated according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

On Wednesday, Nov. 3, IDPH adopted CDC’s recommendation for children ages 5 to 11 years to receive the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19...