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Pritzker talks reopening as Chicago finally announces March 29 start of expanded vaccine eligibility

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Illinois

Gov. J.B. Pritzker said Wednesday he’s working with business interests and health professionals in developing an incremental reopening plan for Illinois that is expected to be released later this week.

“We’re working with industry leaders, (and) we’re working with our doctors at (the Illinois Department of Public Health) as well as other experts in the state to make sure that the phased reopening is not only healthy for everybody but also good for the economy as we move it forward,” Pritzker said outside Abraham Lincoln Memorial Hospital in downstate Lincoln.

At a stop later in Decatur, Pritzker said the new reopening plan would balance economic interests with the need to stay ahead of new variants of the virus that spread more quickly than the strains that drove the spring and fall surges.

He said the state would have little time to react to an increase in the variants.

* More from his stop in Macon County…

I can tell you that we got together with leaders of various industries in Illinois to make sure that we’re covering all of the the stakeholders that would be interested from a business perspective. And then of course, we brought our doctors from IDPH and others into meetings to try to figure out how do we phase in as things get better in the state. Also, how do we take into account that there are variants out there that are faster moving in their transmission to people, and therefore, what we don’t want to see is a surge of cases. And so how do we make sure that as we’re opening up we’re taking into account that we could still see a surge of cases while we’re vaccinating everybody here. So that’s all part of the thinking, and contemplation as we look at, you know, how we gradually move entirely to phase Five. And that’s something we’re still working on, we’ll be announcing shortly.

* Meanwhile…

The city of Chicago will greatly expand the number of people eligible for vaccination shots later this month, Mayor Lori Lightfoot announced on Wednesday.

Under the move to phase 1C, Chicago residents who have medical conditions or are essential workers who haven’t yet qualified for the coronavirus vaccine will become eligible for the shot starting March 29, Lightfoot said.

The eligibility for those with health conditions applies to Chicagoans 16 and older and will follow the Illinois Department of Health’s guidelines that include cancer, lung disease, heart conditions and other ailments that put individuals at greater risk of serious illness or death from COVID-19. Unlike the rest of the state, however, Chicago will not include smokers in that category. Essential jobs will be defined as industries such as restaurants, construction, finance, media and other categories. […]

Chicago public health commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady has said she predicts most people in Phase 1c will get their vaccine throughout April and May. Meanwhile, Lightfoot has expressed optimism about President Joe Biden’s announcement last week that all adults in the U.S. should be eligible for the shot by May 1, but she prefaced that hope with the caveat that there must be more vaccine sent to Chicago.

* Sun-Times…

The soon-to-be-eligible Phase 1C recipients are more likely to start receiving doses through April and May. […]

“We’ll definitely still be vaccinating hundreds of thousands of Chicagoans through the summer and beyond, but this is going to start feeling more like a traditional flu vaccine campaign where the problem is not finding a vaccine, it’s having the confidence and making the decision to get a vaccine.”

posted by Rich Miller
Wednesday, Mar 17, 21 @ 2:21 pm

Comments

Will the state also move to 1C (the part they didn’t move into 1B+ on March 29th, or sooner?)

Comment by Matthew Wednesday, Mar 17, 21 @ 2:27 pm
Regarding “opening up,” I received the following in an email today from The Decembrists (who had scheduled a show in Chicago in August):

“We were really hoping against hope to be able to bring this 20th/21st anniversary show on the road this summer. And while there’s every reason to be optimistic about the state of the pandemic and the possibility of live shows in the future, we don’t think it’s going to happen in July and August of this year. There’s so much uncertainty about playing these shows safely, especially the indoor ones, that we thought the best decision is to cancel. Yeah, we’re bummed.”

Note that the reason for cancelling is “There’s so much uncertainty about playing these shows safely, especially the indoor ones” It’s not about what is (or will be) allowed; it’s about what is safe.

Comment by Pot calling kettle Wednesday, Mar 17, 21 @ 2:37 pm
Right now about 40,000 people a day are becoming “fully vaccinated” in Illinois.

Long way to go to 50/60/70% of the population with a jab.

Comment by Cool Papa Bell Wednesday, Mar 17, 21 @ 2:39 pm
Does anyone have any insight on how to sign up for a post-March 29 appointment as someone in Phase 1c? Doesn’t look like the Zocdoc for Chicago vaccines has updated to include new eligibility.

Comment by R2B2 Wednesday, Mar 17, 21 @ 2:40 pm
OH has eligibility for all residents over 40 now. All residents over 16 beginning March 29th. IN and WI have also announced roll-outs for additional phases. Pritzker over here talking about another phase re-opening, but still no firm criteria on 1C or any dates around it announced. Who will be in 1C? When will that begin? When will everyone be eligible? When you subtract CHI, which has its own supply, IL has a smaller state pop than OH. What is the holdup? Why can’t IL figure it out?

Comment by CG Wednesday, Mar 17, 21 @ 2:53 pm
With a number of people refusing to get vaccines or otherwise treating Covid-19 as nothing more than the flu, it may be a long time before all of us feel safe. And until that occurs we won’t see a full economic recovery. I’m a week away from being fully vaccinated but I still don’t plan on eating in a restaurant or going to a bar anytime soon.

Comment by Pundent Wednesday, Mar 17, 21 @ 3:00 pm
= Why can’t IL figure it out?=

Did you take a breath long enough to read the story? Illinois is figuring it out, and safely. Hysterics really do not help.

For all of Ohio’s alleged greatness, they did 65,000 vaccines yesterday for a state with a population of 11.9 million. Not so hot.

Comment by JS Mill Wednesday, Mar 17, 21 @ 3:33 pm
I like how creating eligibility for more age groups shows that a state has it together.

So if Illinois just throws up the barn door and lets anyone over 40 sign up that’s a good thing?

And Phase 1C is well defined. Go look it up.

Comment by Cool Papa Bell Wednesday, Mar 17, 21 @ 3:57 pm
“Does anyone have any insight on how to sign up for a post-March 29 appointment as someone in Phase 1c?”

I don’t believe that it can be done just yet.

– MrJM

Comment by @misterjayem Wednesday, Mar 17, 21 @ 4:07 pm
I do not see any projections for the next phase or phases and 1C still is essentially listed as “to be determined.” “Hysterics” by saying that other states have identified when their next phase roll-out is and IL has not? Hardly. Also, WI is not doing it solely based on age. I was not endorsing age as a qualifier because I am not a health expert. What I said was that the other states have been able to identify dates for the next phase of vaccinations. IL has not but is talking about reopening. Shouldn’t those go hand in hand?

Comment by CG Wednesday, Mar 17, 21 @ 4:54 pm
I agree IL phase 1C has not yet been defined (check the dph website and it says TBD) and when it will begin is also not clear. IL is very slow to detail the rest of their vaccine plan where other states are ahead.

Chicago is also doing poorly due to do many rules on who is and who is not eligible. 792K total doses as of yesterday. That is 29 per 100 residents. US average is 34 per 100.

Comment by SNL Wednesday, Mar 17, 21 @ 5:58 pm
The doc who vaccinated the Trump employees and Eric Trump needs to be disciplined.

Comment by Amalia Wednesday, Mar 17, 21 @ 6:10 pm
It is frustrating that other states in Midwest have opened up the vaccine to much younger people. I also noted in the Pantagraph today that Mclean county doesn’t require any proof of medical conditions to get the vaccine. Certainly that leads to false claims and those in need may not get their shot.
Things are certainly improving, but there is a very long way to go. Ugh

Comment by Tired Teacher Wednesday, Mar 17, 21 @ 6:51 pm