Chicago will continue to set its own rules for who gets inoculations in the city.
CHICAGO (CBS) — Gov. JB Pritzker will significantly expand vaccine eligibility for most of Illinois next month, making shots available to anyone age 16 or older starting April 12, although Chicago will continue to set its own rules for who gets inoculations in the city. The governor had already opened vaccine eligibility to people ages 16 to 64 with serious underlying health conditions on Feb.25 as part of what he dubbed “Phase 1B-plus” of the state’s vaccination plan. The governor’s announcement Thursday morning essentially combines Phase 1C and Phase 2, making the only requirement for a vaccine for non-Chicago residents that they be at least 16 years old, beginning April 12. Pritzker’s office said, on April 12, all state-supported mass vaccination sites, local health departments, and pharmacy partners that receive vaccine from the state’s allocation will be instructed to make shots available to everyone 16 and older. The move comes as vaccine distribution in Illinois continues to ramp up. Pritzker said more than 800,000 doses of vaccines were delivered to the state this week, and weekly shipments are expected to increase to 1 million doses by April. “The Biden administration has met or exceeded all of its vaccine projections to date, and I have every confidence that they will continue to do so,” Pritzker said. The governor also said the state will continue to increase the number of available vaccination sites, and deploy more members of the Illinois National Guard to help administer vaccines. However, Pritzker said people will still need to be patient about receiving the vaccine once eligibility opens up further. “If everyone tried to get vaccinated on the same day, it just couldn’t be done. Nevertheless, by mid-April, we will be at a point where dividing up the population into phases won’t make sense with the ever-increasing supplies that we expect to see,” Pritzker said. Currently, to be eligible for a vaccine in most of Illinois, you must be healthcare worker, longterm care facility resident or staff, frontline essential worker, age 65 or older, or have a serious underlying health condition that puts you at greater risk from the virus, including cancer, chronic kidney disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, diabetes, heart conditions, a compromised immune system due to an organ transplant, obesity, pulmonary disease, and sickle cell disease; as well as pregnant women, the disabled, and smokers. Chicago gets its own separate supply of vaccines from the federal government, and on Wednesday Mayor Lori Lightfoot announced the city would enter Phase 1C of the vaccination plan on March 29, opening eligibility to people with underlying conditions that put them at greater risk from the virus, and for essential workers who didn’t qualify under previous phases. Qualifying essential workers include restaurant staff, clergy, legal workers, media, retail workers, and more.
