SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — Illinois officials and pediatricians are urging parents to start preparing to have their children between ages 5 and 11 vaccinated against COVID-19 when shots become available as early as next week. Gov. J.B. Pritzker said the Illinois Department of Public Health is constructing a distribution program for low-dose vaccines which the Biden administration expects could receive federal approval by Nov. 3. Illinois should receive an initial shipment of 400,000 doses, Pritzker said during a Chicago news conference. Last Friday, IDPH reported that COVID-19 had claimed 25,590 lives in Illinois among 1.61 million confirmed or probable cases of the disease.