Illinois coronavirus: Pritzker gets COVID-19 booster shot, says masking mandate remains for now

Governor JB Pritzker rolled up his sleeve for his COVID-19 booster shot Tuesday morning, urging eligible residents to do the same, calling it “the safest thing to do” as coronavirus admissions remain stubbornly high in Illinois despite general improvements in other measurements.

About seven months after receiving the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, the 56-year-old Democratic governor said he chose a Pfizer-BioNTech dose this time because it is “one that has been recommended to me before, which is why I thought , that I would try another. “

“The booster makes you safer from the virus, so please take it,” Pritzker said shortly before getting his second plug at the Mile Square Health Center on the Near West Side. “Do not think that just because you got it the first time, that it will last forever as the safest way to go. The safest thing to do is get your booster shot.”

But even though he urged Illinois residents to bare their arms, the governor is not ready to ask them to uncover their faces. He said that only when COVID-19 admissions fall will he begin to “become more and more optimistic” about easing masking restrictions.

About 800,000 Illinois residents have already rebuilt their protection since booster shots received federal approval in late September.

Any adult who has received a Johnson & Johnson shot is eligible for a booster two months after their first shot. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends Pfizer and Moderna boosters six months after completing the initial vaccine series for recipients 65 years of age or older, plus all other adults with underlying medical conditions, as well as those living or working in high-risk environments “” such as prisons, grocery stores and schools.

But with nearly a quarter of the state’s population still unvaccinated, “our priority remains to get the people who have not received a shot to get the first shot,” said Illinois Public Health Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike. About 77% of Illinois residents 12 years of age or older have received a shot, and nearly 71% are considered fully vaccinated.

COVID-19 vaccine doses administered daily

Graphics by Jesse Howe and Caroline Hurley | Sun-Times

Source: Illinois Department of Public Health

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“So those of you who are considering getting your third [dose], you’re doing the right thing, but those of you who have not had a single shot: Please, you should start your vaccination journey, ”said Ezike, who received her booster last week.

Thousands of children ages 5 to 11 are expected to begin this journey later in the week pending CDC approval.

Governor JB Pritzker listens, while Dr. Ngozi Ezike will brief the media at the James R. Thompson Center in Loop in May.

Anthony Vazquez, Anthony Vazquez / Sun-Times-fil

Pritzker said that although children are required to receive several other vaccinations before enrolling in public schools, there would be no requirement for children to be inoculated against COVID-19 this school year.

“It could probably change, much further down the line,” Ezike said, but only after the vaccines have received full federal approvals in addition to the current emergency use permit currently issued by the Food and Drug Administration.

Any potential vaccination requirement for school enrollment must go through the state legislature, Pritzker said.

Meanwhile, the state’s COVID-19 figures have improved – but not enough to get the governor to consider lifting his state-wide mandate for the indoor mask.

Average daily cases have fallen by more than half since the height of the Delta variant rise in late August, but the masks will remain on until the state sees a marked drop in hospital admissions, Pritzker said.

Hospitals treated 1,274 coronavirus patients Monday night. The state has hovered around that level for about two weeks, well below the approximately 2,200 admissions per year. night during the Delta rise – but still tripled the nightly figure of around 400, marking a low pandemic in early summer.

Governor JB Pritzker adjusts his face mask after a press conference last year.

Ashlee Rezin / Sun-Times fil

“That’s not a good sign,” Pritzker said. “Now we are leveled at a level that is much higher than in the summer. … If the number of people in the hospital with COVID-19 is declining, it is a really good sign and means that we, you know, are becoming more and more optimistic about removing indoor mask mandates outside the schools. ”

Chicago Public Health Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady agreed during a separate online Q&A that “this is not the time for complacency.” The city-wide positivity rate is 1.7%, one tenth of a percentage point higher than last week and still almost three times higher than the lowest level before Delta of 0.6%.

The city also updated its travel quarantine advice to include 41 states considered hotspots for coronavirus. The only ones that are not are Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Louisiana, Maryland, South Carolina and Texas, plus Washington DC, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.