A two-week extension has been granted to hospitals and schools to implement COVID vaccine requirements for their employees. The Sept. 5 deadline has now been pushed to Sept. 19 by Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s office.
As hospitals and schools work to implement additional COVID-19 testing programs and accountability measures, Pritzker and Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike announced the two-week extension of vaccination requirements for individuals in high-risk settings.
All healthcare workers, including nursing home employees, all PreK-12 teachers and staff, as well as higher education personnel and students will now be required to receive an initial dose of the COVID-19 vaccine by Sept. 19, 2021. The extended deadline came at the request of the Illinois Health and Hospital Association (IHA), as well as education leaders including the Illinois Education Association (IEA), Illinois Federation of Teachers (IFT), Illinois Association of School Administrators (IASA), and Illinois Principals Association (IPA), who best understand the localized needs of hospitals and schools implementing their own testing, vaccine and accountability protocols.
Meanwhile, in Will County the IDPH listed seven-day rolling COVID test positivity rate for Sept. 7 (the most recent data available) of 5.36 percent. That’s a decrease from the 6.1 percent listed by the Will County Health Department on Sept. 2, when total reported cases were at 84,614 and reported deaths from the virus hit 1,073.
As for the vaccination mandates, entities continue to be permitted and encouraged to put in place more stringent vaccination requirements. The Executive Order does not prohibit any entity from implementing a requirement that personnel, contractors, students or other visitors be fully vaccinated without providing the alternative to test on a weekly basis consistent with applicable law.
“Vaccines remain our strongest tool to protect ourselves from COVID-19, the Delta variant, and most crucially, to maintain our healthcare system’s ability to care for anyone who walks through their doors in need of help,” Pritzker said. “While hospitals and schools move forward in good faith, this extension ensures they are prepared to meet this requirement to better protect our most vulnerable residents and children who are not yet eligible to get vaccinated.”
“Even as our hospitals and schools are taking the necessary steps to ensure compliance with the testing and accountability measures mandated in Executive Order 2021-22, we recognize that some institutions will need additional time in which to establish procedures that will guarantee they are compliant,” Ezike said. “Our primary goal is to make sure that healthcare workers, education employees and students are protected, along with their families and communities, and this extension will help us achieve that goal.”
