(WBBM NEWSRADIO) - Governor Pritzker issued an amended COVID-19 executive order on Wednesday that will alter vaccine and testing requirements for many healthcare workers and colleges in Illinois.
The order states that unvaccinated workers in long-term care facilities with the most vulnerable residents, such as skilled nursing homes, will be required to test for COVID-19 weekly only if they are in an area of “moderate” transmission. If the facility is at a “high” transmission, workers must be tested twice weekly.
Moving forward, unvaccinated workers at hospitals and other Medicare-certified health care facilities will only have to be tested weekly if they are in an area of “high” transmission.
The governor also announced that the vaccine mandate for employees and students at Illinois colleges has been lifted. Pritzker wrote however that vaccine requirements will stay in place at K-12 schools, daycares, state-run assisted-living facilities, independent doctors’ offices, dental offices, urgent care facilities, and outpatient facilities.
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“I continue to urge all Illinoisans to make sure they're up to date on their COVID-19 vaccine to ensure the most at-risk populations and those unable to be vaccinated are protected from the serious side effects of this disease. As we continue to move toward living with this virus, my administration will relax some requirements while continuing to protect the most vulnerable and ensuring we can get every federal dollar our residents are eligible to receive," Governor Pritzker said in a press release issued Wednesday.
WBBM Newsradio Editor Geoff Dankert contributed
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