Pritzker: 'We need more vaccines'
Guv looks ahead to next phase of inoculations and easing mitigations after receiving assurances from President-elect Biden
Gov. Pritzker speaks at Monday’s coronavirus briefing at the state Capitol in Springfield. (Illinois.gov)
By Ted Cox
Gov. Pritzker is calling for more COVID-19 vaccines, and he expects to get them from President-elect Biden once he takes office next week.
The governor said Monday at the daily coronavirus briefing at the state Capitol in Springfield that he has received assurances from the incoming Biden administration that it would rush delivery of coronavirus vaccines to the states. Just Thursday, Pritzker joined his Midwestern counterparts Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan, Tim Walz of Minnesota, and Tony Evers of Wisconsin in complaining about public reports that “the federal government currently has more than 50 percent of currently produced vaccines held back by the presidential administration for unknown reasons.”
According to the governor, the state has received 587,900 total doses of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, and has administered 334,939, although that figure is certainly higher as there is a lag of up to three days between reports of vaccine deliveries and actual inoculations, due to “federal rules.”
“We’re actually at a pretty good pace administering,” he added.
Pritzker said he had received assurances that the Biden administration will speed vaccine distribution and not hold back, the way the Trump administration evidently has. According to the governor, 850,000 Illinoisans are eligible for vaccination under Phase 1A of the distribution program, including frontline health-care workers and workers and patients at long-term-care facilities like nursing homes, while another 3.2 million are eligible under Phase 1B, including police, firefighters, nurses, and those 65 and older.
“I want to urge patience,” Pritzker said. “Phase 1B will take many weeks to complete,” if not months. He later added, “We need more vaccines delivered.”
In the letter sent Thursday to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the governor stated: “In each of our states, vaccine delivery has been much slower than we anticipated, so it is imperative that the federal government distribute the vaccines it is holding on reserve. These vaccines will save millions of Americans from the unnecessary danger and hardship of contracting COVID-19,” adding, “Up to now, this vaccine has only been offered to a very specific group of people at very specific location. Our states are ready to work alongside the federal government to expand vaccine distribution so that we can protect the well-being of all our residents, families, small businesses, and our economy.”
On Monday, Pritzker said that some regions of the state have already completed Phase 1A and are moving on to 1B. He pledged to address the timeline for the entire state to move on later in the week.
Biden has promised to vaccinate 100 million across the country in his first 100 days in office, although there were also reports Monday that he was dissatisfied with his administration’s early response to the pandemic ahead of the inauguration set for Jan. 20. By contrast, the Trump administration did not come close to the president’s stated goal of vaccinating 10 million before the end of 2020.
Pritzker credited statewide mitigation measures imposed before Thanksgiving for Illinois having thus far avoided a holiday surge as seen in California and other states.
“Our success is relative and it’s precious,” he said. “It’s my belief that Illinois has saved lives, brought down community risk, and set ourselves up to reduce these mitigations in a way that is both safe and smart.”
The governor has set Friday as the day when mitigation measures may be reconsidered on a regional basis. Regions must see testing positivity rates drop below 12 percent and hospital-bed availability rise above 20 percent — both for three days running — to qualify to have restrictions eased, along with seeing hospitalizations for the coronavirus drop for seven days out of 10.
“Things are going in the right direction,” Pritzker said.
Public Health Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike urged Illinoisans to “wash up, back up, mask up, and vax up,” emphasizing the importance of maintaining masks, hand washing, and social distancing even as the vaccines become more widely available, until the pandemic is formally declared over. Insisting that the vaccines are safe, in the face of any public doubts, Ezike asked those who receive a vaccination to promote it through photos on social media shared with the hashtag #vaxupil.