The 217 Today Podcast

217 Today: Wednesday December 16, 2020

Olivia Butts
 
Agatha Watson at home with her children in southern Indiana.

Agatha Watson at home with her children in southern Indiana. Farah Yousry/Side Effects Public Media

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Wednesday December 16, 2020

Today’s headlines:

  • Governor JB Pritzker has proposed 700 million dollars in cuts to this year’s budget to close a projected nearly 4 billion dollar shortfall.

  • All Illinois hospitals are expected to have doses of the COVID-19 vaccine to administer to their first wave of employees by next week.

  • Medical workers in Peoria and Chicago received the first COVID-19 vaccinations Tuesday. Health care employees are among the top priorities for the first COVID-19 vaccines.

  • Public Health officials reported nearly 7,400 new COVID-19 cases in Illinois yesterday, including 117 deaths. Those included Champaign County’s 76th COVID-related fatality, a woman in her 70s.

In today’s deep dive, we hear the first in a two-part series on how COVID-19 can be especially dangerous for people with diabetes. That story is from Side Effects Public Media.

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