CHICAGO (KMOX) - Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker announced guidelines for the next stage of COVID-19 vaccine distribution across Illinois, which includes approximately 3.2 million people throughout the state.
Phase 1B will begin when Phase 1A is substantially complete. It will include all Illinois residents age 65 years and older and “frontline essential workers,” as outlined by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP). A statement from Pritzker's office says this will help reduce COVID-19 mortality and limit community spread in Black and Brown communities.
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Illinois reduced the age eligibility in Phase 1B by 10 years from ACIP’s recommendation.
The frontline essential workers designation includes many residents who carry a higher risk of COVID-19 exposure because of their work duties, often because they are unable to work from home, and/or they must work closely to others without being able to socially distance. Communities of color are disproportionately represented in many of these industries.
The category defined by the federal government as frontline essential workers, which the CDC estimates as about 30 million Americans, includes first responders; education workers, including teachers, support staff and childcare workers; manufacturing, distribution and agriculture workers, including grocery store workers; United States Postal Service workers; public transit employees; corrections workers and incarcerated people, and others.
Watch the full announcement here:
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