CHICAGO — Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker announced a new COVID-19 policy for the state on Thursday, requiring eligible students and school staffers to be vaccinated and all to wear masks in schools and colleges.
Pritzker, a Democrat, has ordered an indoor mask mandate statewide, including children age 2 and above, regardless of vaccination status.
In recent weeks, Illinois has seen a resurgence of COVID cases spurred largely by the Delta variant of the virus and increasing reports of “breakthrough” cases where people already vaccinated get infected.
“The quick spread of this disease in Illinois and across the country is holding us all back from the post-pandemic life we so desperately want to embrace, and it’s harming the most vulnerable among us,” said Pritzker. “We are running out of time as our hospitals run out of beds.
“Vaccination remains our strongest tool to protect ourselves and our loved ones, to restore post-pandemic life to our communities, and most crucially, to maintain our healthcare system’s ability to care for anyone who walks through their doors in need of help – and Illinois is taking action to keep our communities safe.”
“The vast majority of hospitalizations, as well as cases and deaths, are among those who are unvaccinated,” said IDPH Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike. “This has become a pandemic of the unvaccinated.”
The masking requirements are effective Monday, Aug. 30.
On Monday, the Pfizer-BioNtech vaccine was given full approval for use by the federal government. But Pfizer authorization is for people ages 16 an older, not younger children.
Pritzker’s announcement came in the wake of Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s recent order that requires all city employees including police and firefighters to be vaccinated or have proof of a valid medical or religious exemption.
The policy in the third-largest U.S. city comes as numerous other municipalities, school districts and governments across the nation grapple with masking and vaccination requirements.
(Reporting by Rich McKay in Atlanta;Editing by Bernadette Baum and Chizu Nomiyama contributed to this story.)
