By Blake Haas

BLOOMINGTON – As vaccine clinics return to Grossinger Motors Arena, the McLean County Health Department reports 84 new cases of COVID-19.

Officials report 33 people are hospitalized in the county, with 25 of them McLean County residents. In addition, McLean County hospitals are reporting 88% of ICU beds and 93% of total beds are in use.

In the past week, the health department has recorded 435 new cases of COVID-19. Authorities also report 501 people are in home isolation, while 20,573 people have been released from isolation and are considered recovered.

Every Thursday throughout September, the health department holds vaccine clinics at Grossinger Motors Arena from 10:00 a.m. until 3 p.m.

“The vaccine is still readily available all across McLean County, but we are seeing an increase in the demand for vaccinations,” said McLean County Public Affairs Coordinator Marianne Manko. “We are continuing to offer vaccines inside our clinic, but we also wanted to offer some mass vaccination clinics as well.”

County officials say 183,143 doses of the vaccine have been administered in the county, and 53.18% of the county is fully vaccinated.

“We can do up to 200 people per week; we’re not expecting those kinds of numbers, but we are seeing increases in demands for our vaccinations,” added Manko. “So we wanted to make sure we were prepared and ready to go. We’re also anticipating age 12, and under that, that population or a portion of that population may be eligible for vaccinations in the near future, so we want to be prepared for that as well.”

There have been 251 COVID-related deaths in the county.

Blake Haas can be reached at [email protected].