Vaccine Mandatory For Some State Workers, School Masks Required

CHICAGO — Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced Wednesday a mask mandate will be in effect for all preschool through high school students and staff throughout the state, regardless of vaccination status. He also told reporters that state employees in congregate settings — meaning prisons, veteran homes or state shelters — would be required to get vaccinated against COVID-19 as well.

Student athletes will also be required to wear masks for indoor sports and recreation, but not outdoor games and events. The state is also offering free masks, tests and other supplies to all school districts.

The announcement comes as Illinois attempts to combat the latest form of the COVID-19 virus, the delta variant, which health officials have said is far more contagious than the original virus seen last year. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention earlier this week listed many Illinois counties as having a "substantial" or "high" risk of transmitting the virus.

Pritzker's response has three main components, the governor said. Schools, state employers and long-term care facilities will be the main focus of the vaccine mandate, which won't take effect until Oct. 4.

"Please don’t think the worst-case scenario cannot happen to you — it can happen," Pritzker said when referencing increased COVID-19 hospitalizations among young people. "It is happening."

Pritzker, along with Illinois Department of Public Health Director Ngozi Ezike, stressed the important decisions schools have been faced with over the past year. While he applauded school systems in Peoria, Elgin and Chicago, Pritzker added many school boards have opted not to take a strong stance on vaccines as students return to learning this fall.

"We have the legal authority to enforce this, and we will if necessary. What we think is going to happen is that schools will follow this [and] do the right thing," he said. "Far too few school districts have chosen to follow the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention prescription for keeping students and staff safe. I had hoped that a state mask requirement in schools wouldn't be necessary, but it is."

Illinois Education Association President Kathi Griffin said in a statement that members are thankful for the mask mandate, speaking for the nearly 135,000 teachers and staff the union represents.

"We all want to get back to normal. Let's pull together and take care of one another. Vax up and mask up. We owe it to our students, and we owe it to each other," said Griffin. "We're so thankful to have leadership in this state that won't let the virus fester and grow. But, it up to all of us to bring COVID-19 to its knees."

Pritzker, who is seeking re-election next year, has come under fire for his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, but made his public health leadership throughout the last year a key point in his campaign.

State Sen. Darren Bailey (R-Xenia) who is running against the first-term Democrat, said he was looking into the possibility of filing a legal challenge to the mandate. He said a one-size-fits-all policy does not work for every school district in Illinois.

"If parents want to send their children to school with a mask, they should wear the mask. If a school board wants to mandate masks for a school, then so be it. They can do that. The parents can step up and push back, but it's up to the school board to represent the majority of the parents. It is not allowable for one person, one person, one failed Governor to stand up and be making these decisions all across the state," Bailey said.

"I am sick and tired of this tyrannical rule that is infringing on the freedoms of everyone in the state of Illinois," he added, "and is certainly affecting our freedom across this nation."

Though school boards will have until Oct. 4 to make the decision, Pritzker mentioned the possibility of legal action against those that do not comply.

"Schools can be held liable if they don't follow the mandates that are put in place. There's even the ability for the state to revoke recognition status for a school," Pritzker said, "though I think that's something that would happen long after other efforts are made to get a school to impose mitigations and to maintain the mask mandate."

RELATED: Federal Court Mandates Vaccination Or Testing For Its Employees

The governor's orders will not require all state workers to get vaccinated but will mandate it for employees who work in settings where people are in direct care of the state, such as juvenile detention facilities and psychiatric wards.

Pritzker also appealed to younger people and parents of children who are old enough to get vaccinated. At one point during the Wednesday press conference, he pounded his hand on the podium to underscore each word in a plea of "you have to get vaccinated."

"People are dying who don't have to die," Pritzker said. "We have a limited amount of time right now to stave off the highest peaks of this surge going into the fall."

RELATED: Mandatory Vaccinations, Tests For State Workers On The Table, Pritzker Says

Another one of Pritzker's Republican challengers, former state Sen. Paul Schimpf of Waterloo, issued a statement saying he "vehemently" disagreed with the governor's new mandates.

"JB Pritzker’s mandatory vaccination order for state workers is inconsistent with the civil liberties that I spent 24 years on active duty defending," Schimpf said.

So far, vaccination rates have slowed in the state, especially among state employees in long-term care facilities. Often, Ezike said, the vaccination rates of patients in state-run facilities are higher than for those who are hired to care for them.

According to IDPH, about 59 percent of the eligible population has been fully vaccinated. New York, California and North Carolina are among other states that have required vaccines for all or a portion of their state employees.

As of Wednesday, the average daily number of cases over the past week jumped to 2,099, the highest level since the beginning of May. A little over a month ago, Illinois' daily average was 307 cases per day.