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Pritzker: “I can’t imagine” COVID-19 vaccine mandate for schools

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* The governor was asked today whether a COVID-19 vaccine (if/when it is developed) would be mandatory for students who want to return to school…

No, I can’t imagine that. What I do think is that once a vaccine is available, I think many, many people will want to get vaccinated. We obviously want to get to herd immunity. We have for example with the measles vaccine just to give you an idea about, I think 95% coverage in the state of Illinois, people actually getting the measles vaccine measles vaccine or at least above 90, actually I think we’re at 98.

Um, vaccines are already mandatory for public school attendance. Why wouldn’t this one be?

…Adding… It has been pointed out that there’s no vaccine testing being done on children and the approval process for kids could take longer. Still.

posted by Rich Miller
Wednesday, Aug 5, 20 @ 3:04 pm

Comments

“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.

Comment by Ok Wednesday, Aug 5, 20 @ 3:06 pm
Dr. Ezike, please hit him over the head for this one. The rest of the staff can join in.

Comment by ArchPundit Wednesday, Aug 5, 20 @ 3:07 pm
Hoo boy. This one will be used against him in a few months, for sure.

Comment by JB13 Wednesday, Aug 5, 20 @ 3:10 pm
Imagine all the people living for today.

Comment by Bigtwich Wednesday, Aug 5, 20 @ 3:13 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.

Comment by GOB Bluth Wednesday, Aug 5, 20 @ 3:14 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.

Comment by Anon E Moose Wednesday, Aug 5, 20 @ 3:17 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.

Comment by Chatham Resident Wednesday, Aug 5, 20 @ 3:18 pm
this assumes the vaccine is actually approved by the FDA.

Comment by Fantasy Island 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.

Comment by ArchPundit Wednesday, Aug 5, 20 @ 3:18 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.

Comment by pool boy Wednesday, Aug 5, 20 @ 3:27 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.

Comment by AndyIllini Wednesday, Aug 5, 20 @ 3:32 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.

Comment by ArchPundit Wednesday, Aug 5, 20 @ 3:33 pm
It’s also odd that he mentioned measles in his response. I think the MMR vaccine is required.

Comment by AndyIllini 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.

Comment by Demoralized Wednesday, Aug 5, 20 @ 3:34 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

Comment by 1st Ward Wednesday, Aug 5, 20 @ 3:40 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.

Comment by Frank talks Wednesday, Aug 5, 20 @ 3:45 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.

Comment by Jibba Wednesday, Aug 5, 20 @ 3:57 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.

Comment by the Patriot Wednesday, Aug 5, 20 @ 3:58 pm
Do children have to take the flu shot, to attend public schools?

Comment by Lane Change Wednesday, Aug 5, 20 @ 4:02 pm
There’s a process for making some vaccines mandatory, and asking the governor at a press event ain’t it.

Comment by Socially DIstant watcher Wednesday, Aug 5, 20 @ 4:07 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.”

Comment by Chris Wednesday, Aug 5, 20 @ 4:15 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

Comment by The Dude Wednesday, Aug 5, 20 @ 4:40 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.’

Comment by ArchPundit Wednesday, Aug 5, 20 @ 5:12 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?

Comment by 44th Wednesday, Aug 5, 20 @ 5:19 pm
I wouldn’t take a vaccine unless it was made and tested in the USA.

Comment by Mama Wednesday, Aug 5, 20 @ 6:42 pm
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.

Comment by Techie Thursday, Aug 6, 20 @ 9:15 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.

Comment by jazzmanchgo Thursday, Aug 6, 20 @ 10:05 am