27 Comments - Ok - Wednesday, Aug 5, 20 @ 3:06 pm: “I can’t foresee that” would have been much better. I can imagine a lot of things. A pandemic like this was not on that list, though. - ArchPundit - Wednesday, Aug 5, 20 @ 3:07 pm: Dr. Ezike, please hit him over the head for this one. The rest of the staff can join in. - JB13 - Wednesday, Aug 5, 20 @ 3:10 pm: Hoo boy. This one will be used against him in a few months, for sure. - Bigtwich - Wednesday, Aug 5, 20 @ 3:13 pm: Imagine all the people living for today. - GOB Bluth - Wednesday, Aug 5, 20 @ 3:14 pm: Isn’t there a concern in regards to how long it will take to give everyone that want a vaccine a vaccine? I get why he wouldn’t want to commit to it right now given so many unknowns. - Anon E Moose - Wednesday, Aug 5, 20 @ 3:17 pm: Vaccinate the parents and any elderly family members first. Children are less likely to acquire or die of the disease. But yes, vaccinate everybody. - Chatham Resident - Wednesday, Aug 5, 20 @ 3:18 pm: If/once a COVID-19 vaccine is found and available, will state employees and retirees get it automatically as part of the annual flu shots (if you have state health isurance)? I hope we’re among the first groups to be offered the vaccine. - Fantasy Island - Wednesday, Aug 5, 20 @ 3:18 pm: this assumes the vaccine is actually approved by the FDA. - ArchPundit - Wednesday, Aug 5, 20 @ 3:18 pm: ===I get why he wouldn’t want to commit to it right now given so many unknowns. I think caveats about timing of a requirement would be reasonable, but cannot imagine it? That’s a pretty strong statement. - pool boy - Wednesday, Aug 5, 20 @ 3:27 pm: I think you can opt out for religious reasons in IL. Also, what ArchPundit said, didn’t the swine flu vaccine in 1976 cause more problems than solutions. Why say something is mandatory when it hasn’t been tested and approved. - AndyIllini - Wednesday, Aug 5, 20 @ 3:32 pm: =I think caveats about timing of a requirement would be reasonable= I’d argue that the question implied a timing requirement. “for students who want to return to school” Whether this may ultimately be required for school aged children and whether it will be required before they resume in-person learning are two different questions. Granted, he didn’t hone in on that distinction in his response. - ArchPundit - Wednesday, Aug 5, 20 @ 3:33 pm: ====Why say something is mandatory when it hasn’t been tested and approved. I’d have no problem with a point on timing or conditional on safety, but saying he can’t imagine mandating a vaccine when we already mandate several vaccines is incoherent. Yes, the vaccine has to be tested to be effective and safe, but then it should be mandated. - AndyIllini - Wednesday, Aug 5, 20 @ 3:34 pm: It’s also odd that he mentioned measles in his response. I think the MMR vaccine is required. - Demoralized - Wednesday, Aug 5, 20 @ 3:34 pm: As far as I’m concerned, once there is a vaccine it should be mandatory if you want to attend school. No vaccine. No school. The anti-vaccine parents need to be told that they have no right to endanger the health of other kids simply because they want to be anti-science and abuse their children by not getting them vaccinated. - 1st Ward - Wednesday, Aug 5, 20 @ 3:40 pm: The first issue is polling for receiving corona vaccines has dropped significantly. There’s the issue of how effective a vaccine will be and how long it will last. If vaccines are needed every year I can’t imagine the state wanting/trying to track this. https://news.yahoo.com/yahoo-news-you-gov-coronavirus-poll-number-of-americans-who-plan-to-get-vaccinated-falls-to-42-percent-a-new-low-162000936.html - Frank talks - Wednesday, Aug 5, 20 @ 3:45 pm: Let’s make sure the vaccine that is available is actually effective and has no underlying impacts. I can say personally I won’t look to be part of first round of vaccine folks. I’ll take 2nd maybe, 3rd for sure once others have tested the water. - Jibba - Wednesday, Aug 5, 20 @ 3:57 pm: From the CDC: “The increased risk was approximately one additional case of GBS for every 100,000 people who got the swine flu vaccine.” also “The data on an association between seasonal influenza vaccine and GBS have been variable from season-to-season. When there has been an increased risk, it has consistently been in the range of 1-2 additional GBS cases per million flu vaccine doses administered.” Swine flu ended up not as bad as predicted, so the risk was not worth the reward. For seasonal flu that kills tens of thousands per year, it is. And it will be for covid, assuming a similar risk profile. - the Patriot - Wednesday, Aug 5, 20 @ 3:58 pm: There are lots of ways around the current vaccine requirements. The first wave will be barely tested so if it has ill-side effects the State would be wildly exposed if they forced it. But one being available gives the school greater deference when they bounce your kid for having COVID. - Lane Change - Wednesday, Aug 5, 20 @ 4:02 pm: Do children have to take the flu shot, to attend public schools? - Socially DIstant watcher - Wednesday, Aug 5, 20 @ 4:07 pm: There’s a process for making some vaccines mandatory, and asking the governor at a press event ain’t it. - Chris - Wednesday, Aug 5, 20 @ 4:15 pm: From where I stand, the “adding” (while 100% correct) only makes Pritzker’s waffling worse. He should have reframed their question: “if you are asking if schools will require vaccination this school year, I don’t see how that is possible. Whether it may eventually be required depends on too may what ifs to say for sure today.” - The Dude - Wednesday, Aug 5, 20 @ 4:40 pm: Rushed vaccines have caused damage in the past. There’s noway to prove safety without generational data and that takes years even if you speed things up. So they will claim safe but ultimately without the data it’s just an educated guess which has been wrong in past - ArchPundit - Wednesday, Aug 5, 20 @ 5:12 pm: ===So they will claim safe but ultimately without the data it’s just an educated guess which has been wrong in past Except we’ll have data from the trials. In addition, the vaccine safety record is very good with only two significant cases where vaccines were demonstrated to create problems with Swine Flu and Rotavirus. We monitor vaccines more thoroughly largely because of the Swine Flu incident. It’s not an educated guess, it will be a tested null hypothesis that has not been rejected and so is held tentatively as is all science. The Stage 3 trial sizes look to be some of the largest for a vaccine ever conducted. There could be side effects that are not identified in the trials but that’s far from an ‘educated guess.’ - 44th - Wednesday, Aug 5, 20 @ 5:19 pm: I dont have a problem with his answer, too many unknowns at this point. When we have it, can decide then. Why get people worked up now? - Mama - Wednesday, Aug 5, 20 @ 6:42 pm: I wouldn’t take a vaccine unless it was made and tested in the USA. - Techie - Thursday, Aug 6, 20 @ 9:15 am: Others here have made the point, and I agree - the difference between any vaccine for this and existing vaccines is that these new vaccines are largely untested, certainly for any potential long-term impacts. Forcing people to get a vaccine with unknown potential side-effects is a bad idea. Both politically, but more important as public policy. Some people will want to get it right away. If there are no or few reports of issues as a result, other more skeptical people will then get on board. - jazzmanchgo - Thursday, Aug 6, 20 @ 10:05 am: I would lean toward a mandatory vaccine, but only if we’re sure it’s available and accessible to all — if people living in certain areas or certain communities are having trouble finding a clinic or somewhere else to be vaccinated, their children shoulnd’t be punished. Sorry, comments for this post are now closed.