At his Friday coronavirus briefing, Gov. JB Pritzker gave details on the coronavirus distribution plan in Illinois.

Pfizer and Moderna currently have COVID-19 vaccines under review by the US Food and Drug Administration for emergency use authorization.

The Pfizer vaccine, which had 95% effective rate, must be taken in two doses three weeks apart and kept in special sub-zero storage freezers to remain viable.

Months after a historic spike in claims due to COVID-19 related shutdowns, Illinois’ unemployed are still struggling to get benefits and some are reporting fraudulent claims with information that’s likely from within the state’s employment security office.

Sheila Bushong, CFO of Hitchcock Design Group in Naperville, has received nine unemployment notifications for current or former employees who didn’t apply. The information provided on the notices included information that Bushong said would only be found at IDES.

Representatives of the Illinois State Police said the backlog of forensic evidence in Illinois has been reduced significantly, but the support of lawmakers is needed to further address delays and deficiencies in the process.

Illinois State Police Director Brendan Kelly made those comments to the Illinois Senate Public Health Committee during a Thursday hearing on the DNA backlog and evidence processing.

Illinois public health officials reported 10,526 COVID-19 cases and 148 related deaths Friday.

The Illinois Department of Public Health said some data reported to IDPH is delayed from the weekends, including this past holiday weekend, when reporting 238 deaths Wednesday.

“Higher case numbers and higher numbers of hospitalizations do lead to, tragically, even more lives lost,” Gov. JB Pritzker said.

Dixon Republican State Representative Tom Demmer is calling on Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan to step down. Demmer is one of three Republicans on a committee tasked with investigating Madigan’s role in an alleged bribery scheme involving ComEd. Demmer represents Sandwich, Somonauk, Leland, Earville and much of DeKalb County.

“The message is simple,” Demmer said, “if the the Speaker does not resign he must come before the special investigative committee and answer these important and relevant questions to all the special investigative committee to do its job.”

Nearly 6.1 million people cast ballots in last month’s election, bringing the overall turnout to nearly 73%, the Illinois State Board of Elections reported

Those were just some of the highlights from state election officials who certified the results at a meeting Friday.

For the second time in 10 years, Chicago’s “Fast Eddie” Vrdolyak has been sentenced by a federal judge to time behind bars.

But thanks to the coronavirus pandemic, it could still take months to sort out one final detail about the 82-year-old former alderman’s new 18-month prison sentence for tax evasion — when it starts.

“I am not going to send Mr. Vrdolyak to prison during COVID,” U.S. District Judge Robert Dow said.

The closure of driver services facilities in Illinois has been extended until January 5, 2021.

Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White on Friday announced the facilities statewide would remain closed for in-person transactions until Tuesday, Jan. 5, 2021. This is due to the ongoing pandemic.

White is also reminding the public that expirations for driver’s licenses and identification cards have been extended until June 1, 2021.

Amy Sholar, former chairwoman of the Southern Illinois University Board of Trustees, has resigned as a trustee of the board.