Governor J.B. Pritzker announced this morning that, as of April 12, all individuals ages 16 and older will be eligible to receive a Covid-19 vaccine. Unfortunately that won't apply to Chicagoans—because Chicago controls its own supply of the vaccine, that state mandate won't apply within city limits. Yesterday, after announcing that Phase 1C of the city's vaccination plan will begin on March 29, Chicago Department of Public Health commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady stated that the city could expand access to vaccine as soon as May 1, but supply will need to increase.
"The city of Chicago gets separate shipments from the government, separate from the rest of the state. It represents 21 percent of the population of the state of Illinois and it can make decisions on its own—it has the ability to do that," Gov. Pritzker said. "I hope it will move expeditiously toward opening up even more."
Gov. Pritzker also introduced the metrics that will inform the state's transition back to relative normalcy in the coming months, adding what he's calling a "bridge phase" to the existing Restore Illinois Plan. Situated between the current Phase 4 and the lifting of all restriction in Phase 5, the state will gradually roll back restrictions on capacity limits as vaccination numbers reach certain benchmarks.
The "bridge phase" is set to begin when 70 percent of Illinois residents ages 65 and over have received at least one dose of the vaccine. According to Pritzker, the current level of vaccination in that age group is 58 percent—he was unwilling to set a date for the beginning of the "bridge phase," due to the unpredictable rate of vaccinations.
Illinois will reach Phase 5 when 50 percent of the population ages 16 and older receives at least one dose of the vaccine. Currently, 28 percent of Illinoisans in that age group have received a dose.
It's likely that there will be several more parts of the "bridge phase" before the state fully reopens—we can expect to hear more about what metrics will trigger those stages and what restrictions may be lifted in the coming months.
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