BREAKING NEWS: Illinois’ Region 2 could be headed backwards towards another, at least partial, shutdown, if covid-19 numbers continue to break in the wrong direction. The Illinois Quad-Cities is a part of Illinois Region 2, which includes Peoria and its surrounding areas, and those spots have been a hotbed for rising covid cases in the last two weeks, according to reports. Peoria County is the eighth worst county in the United States over the last week, relative to their population, according to a report by the New York Times based upon numbers from throughout the United States. That has... Read More

If you get your Covid vaccine at the Rock Island County mass vaccination clinic in Milan between April 14 and May 20, there will be something special that’s literally music to your ears. Taking inspiration from famous cellist Yo-Yo Ma’s recent impromptu performance during his Covid vaccine observation period, the Rock Island County Health Department and the Quad City Symphony Orchestra (QCSO) are partnering to bring live music to the mass vaccination site at Camden Centre in Milan. “Vaccine Variations” is an initiative that arranges for one-hour performances by QCSO musicians starting April... Read More

BREAKING NEWS: Anyone over 16 will be eligible to get a covid-19 vaccination in Rock Island County. According to the Rock Island County Health Department, the RICHD is expanding vaccine eligibility effective today to all Illinois residents 16 and older at its clinic at the Camden Centre in Milan. Appointments are available this week. The Illinois Department of Public Health gave local health departments the authority on Friday to expand vaccination to broader groups, based upon increasing availability of the three currently authorized vaccines: Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson The eligibility... Read More

Genesis Health Group will help speed up COVID-19 protection with a mass vaccination clinic to open Tuesday, March 23 for Genesis patients at the former Dick’s Sporting Goods location at 5250 Elmore Ave., Davenport. Vaccinations will be available by appointment only to eligible Genesis patients who reside in Scott County. Eligible populations are defined and guided by the Iowa State Health Department and can be found on their website. Patients will be able to self-schedule their appointments on the MyGenesis Patient Portal beginning at 9 a.m. on March 22. Those who are not on the MyGenesis patient... Read More

BREAKING NEWS: All Iowans could be eligible to get the covid-19 vaccine as early as April 5, if all goes according to plan, Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds said in a virtual press conference this afternoon. Reynolds said she talked to President Biden’s covid transition team on Tuesday, at which point they said vaccine production was going to be ramping up in the coming weeks, allowing states to be able to begin scheduling potential times for vaccines. Reynolds also addressed computer problems the state had been having with its covid data base and said they had been fixed, and should not impact... Read More

An excellent resource for students in the classrooms of Western Illinois University is the opportunity to learn from those who have gone before them. This week, students in WIU’s Department of Biological Sciences had the opportunity to learn from an alumnus who was part of developing the COVID-19 vaccine for the Pfizer company. Ben Boda, who received his bachelor’s degree in biology in 2006 and his master’s degree in biology in 2012, works in Pfizer’s research and development division in Chesterfield, MO. While there are aspects of his participation in the vaccine development... Read More

Looking to get a covid-19 vaccination? Genesis is doing its best to help. Genesis Health Group will help speed up COVID-19 protection with a mass vaccination clinic to open March 23 for Genesis patients. Genesis administered the first local vaccines in December. As more vaccine becomes available, Genesis will consolidate its Iowa vaccination efforts into the former Dick’s Sporting Goods store at 5250 Elmore Ave., Davenport. The retail-sized clinic in the new location will allow Genesis to reach more Scott County patients in a shorter period. The vaccinations will be available by appointment... Read More

I’m not great at predicting the stock market. I can’t say I’ve been especially adept at picking lottery numbers. But I’m going to go out on a limb and say that Iowa Quad-Cities covid numbers, and probably statewide numbers as well, are going to see a rise in 10-14 days. Over the weekend, my social media feed was flooded with pictures of people at the Mississippi Valley Fairgrounds, downtown Davenport, the Village of East Davenport, and really all over, enjoying the good weather and the premature St. Patrick’s Day celebrations. What did all of those pictures have in... Read More

There’s an old saying that you shouldn’t blame the messenger when you receive bad news. However, that saying is reliant on the messenger being a neutral party. When the messenger is merely the one bringing you the message, it’s without blame. For example, when we at QuadCities.com, give you a story featuring covid statistics, we’re passing along information we’ve gleaned from an official source. We also attribute that source, so that you know where we got that information. We have no part in creating that information. We do not make up the statistics. We do the duty of what the media... Read More

Is another surge in covid cases coming to the Quad-Cities? Rock Island County Health Department sent out a warning about “troubling” data in regard to covid-19 cases. The RICHD posted the following on its social media: We are beginning to see troubling trends of case counts and hospitalizations starting to rise. About two weeks ago, we were seeing single-digit daily case counts and low numbers of people in the hospital with COVID-19. Since then, we are regularly seeing 20 or more cases and more people needing hospital care. We know there are more-contagious virus variants circulating... Read More