The 217 Today Podcast

217 Today: Thursday December 17, 2020

Olivia Butts
 
William Rentel checks his blood sugar while his wife Angela looks on.

William Rentel checks his blood sugar while his wife Angela looks on. Jacob Dean

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Thursday December 17, 2020

Today’s headlines:

  • Central Illinois hospitals are already hearing from patients eager to get the coronavirus vaccine.

  • Illinois received its first doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine this week, but vaccine shipments scheduled for the near future will be cut in half.

  • Champaign County reported 65 new COVID-19 cases yesterday. There are 813 active cases in the county, the lowest number since the first of December. 23 of those patients are hospitalized.

  • The Champaign County Board holds two meetings tonight -- its regular monthly meeting, called by County Executive Darlene Kloeppel, and a special meeting, called by County Board Chair Kyle Patterson. The two separate meetings are the result of a dispute over who has the authority to set the county board’s agenda.

In today’s deep dive, healthcare workers are learning that COVID-19 has the power to raise blood sugar to dangerous levels. And that’s creating serious challenges for hospitals.

217 Today is produced by Olivia Butts and hosted by Brian Moline. Reporting today contributed by Christine Herman, Hannah Meisel, Jim Meadows, and Farah Yousry.