Vaccine Required For Teachers, Health Care Workers In Illinois

CHICAGO — All health care workers, teachers and college students in Illinois must be vaccinated against the coronavirus or face weekly testing, Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced Thursday.

Presenting dire warnings about the dwindling availability of hospital beds, the governor also re-imposed a statewide indoor mask mandate, effective Monday.

"Hospital staff are being overwhelmed and overburdened," Pritzker said. "People are dying who do not have to die."

The governor said data shows the one-third of Illinoisans "who have chosen not to get the life-saving vaccine" are driving the fourth wave of the pandemic in the state.

From January to July, he said, 98 percent of new COVID-19 infections, 96 percent of hospitalizations and 95 percent of deaths have been among unvaccinated people.

"You don't need to be an epidemiologist to understand what's going on here," Pritzker said. "This is a pandemic of the unvaccinated. These are preventable deaths, and beyond the tragedy of losing lives for no reason, this also means inflicting serious damage on communities."

The governor said that regions with the lowest vaccination rates — currently getting hit hardest — have the least hospital capacity and fewest health care facilities, and are least-equipped to deal with the most serious coronavirus cases.

"Until we alleviate the pressure on hospitals, we're going to need to continue to put the pressure on for people to wear masks in indoor locations and all the other mitigations," Pritzker said. "My No. 1 concern right now is keeping our health care system available, not just for people who may get COVID but for people who have other problems that would take them to the hospital."

Pritzker said Illinois is the "most vaccinated state in the Midwest" but still has areas where the vaccination rate is below 30 percent. He said less than half of eligible residents in Southern and Central Illinois have gotten vaccinated, compared with more than 70 percent of people in the Chicago area.

"Unvaccinated workers in the health care system and at nursing homes have driven the majority of the breakthrough hospitalizations that we've seen in Illinois, infecting elderly and the immunocompromised residents who are the first to be hurt when their community isn't safe," Pritzker said. "If you're unvaccinated, you're getting the people in your care sick."

Illinois Department of Public Health Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike said 2,184 people were hospitalized with COVID-19 across the state, with 489 of them in intensive care units and 241 on ventilators.

That compares with a peak of 2,288 hospitalizations and 511 people in ICUs during Illinois' third wave of coronavirus infections in April, according to data from the IDPH website. During the state's November 2020 peak, nearly 6,200 people were hospitalized and more than 1,220 were in ICUs.

"I was hoping we'd never have to be here again," Ezike said. "But right now, we are seeing 220 individuals being admitted to the hospital every day with COVID. The last time we saw this high a number was in May."

Ezike also noted that there are just six ICU beds available in southern Illinois' Region 5, up from just one bed available earlier this week.

"That’s one ICU bed in the entire region in the 20 counties that it serves for anyone, whether it’s appendicitis or a car crash, anyone who might need a bed," she said.

Pritzker said the lack of ICU beds should be a sign that those who are hesitant should get vaccinated.

"I’m sure if people understood that being unvaccinated could take a hospital bed from an accident victim, they might get vaccinated," he said.

Teachers Respond

The Illinois Federation of Teachers and the Illinois Education Association, the two statewide unions representing teachers, issued a joint statement welcoming Pritzker's announcement of the vaccine mandate for teachers and staff in K-12 and higher education.

“For members who cannot, or will not, get vaccinated, we are glad to see the governor has implemented weekly COVID testing," it said. “We are committed to helping our locals negotiate the terms and implementation of the vaccine mandate and other safety policies in school districts, colleges, and universities statewide."

Testing for coronavirus could be more frequent than once a week if there is a COVID-19 outbreak in a community, Pritzker said.

Pritzker previously announced his intention to negotiate a vaccine mandate with other unions representing state employees, such as those who care for people in the state's veterans homes and other congregate living facilities.

"We're continuing to work with the unions. We have to negotiate that. That happens to be something that is required," he said. "So we're in the process of that, but we've set a deadline of Oct. 4 for that. And there's no doubt that I want to extend this, and make sure that more people are getting vaccinated throughout the state including, especially, our state employees."

Workers in health care, schools and college students and staff who do not provide proof of vaccination will be prevented from entering facilities unless they agree to required weekly testing, according to the governor's office.

Since Aug. 1, there have been 27 COVID-19 outbreaks at schools, and "hundreds of schools are being monitored for potential COVID-19 exposures," his office announced. Pritzker noted the Carlyle School District in Clinton County is currently dealing with an outbreak that's seen more than two dozen students test positive and another 150 quarantined due to coronavirus exposure.

Pritzker was asked what it would take for him to lift the statewide indoor mask requirement for schools he issued Aug. 4.

"We have to begin to see the curve bend, as we have before," he said. "Right now, we're not anywhere near close to that. It appears to us like we're going to continue at a linear level — I hope only at a linear level — increasing, until some of the effect of mask requirements and vaccine requirements actually will impact the numbers."

Related:
Mask Mandate, Teacher Vaccine Requirement Expected In IL: Reports
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Hospitalizations Spike Among Unvaccinated As IL ICU Beds Dwindle
Vaccine Mandatory For Some State Workers, School Masks Required

Republican Candidates Speak Out

Candidates seeking the Republican nomination to challenge the governor in next year's election issued statements in response to the announcement of the new mandates.

“If Democrats believe our current situation is so dire to require a mask mandate, they should take up the issue during their legislative session that is scheduled for August 31st," said former state Sen. Paul Schimpf. "Absent legislative action, these executive edicts are yet another divisive act by a failed governor who believes he wields unlimited power.”

"Governor Pritzker continues to act like a tyrant. Instead of engaging the legislature as the constitutional process requires, he continues to issue unilateral mandates," said state Sen. Darren Bailey. "It's time he engaged the legislature, restored local control, and started being honest with Illinois families."