CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- A west suburban congresswoman said people seem more hopeful now that the coronavirus vaccine is being more widely distributed, but real recovery from the pandemic is a ways off.
Congresswoman Lauren Underwood toured the operations at the Northern Illinois Food Bank, where officials said demand for food assistance is down from the earlier peaks, but still high.
Underwood, a Naperville Democrat, said that’s just one sign that recovering from the economic upheaval of the pandemic will be gradual.
"Even as we get everyone vaccinated and kids are returning to school and more businesses are getting the support that they need to begin hiring again, it still takes a little while," she said.
One Food Bank official said she recommends that people continue to take advantage of assistance like theirs, even after they get their stimulus checks, as they get work to get back on their feet.
After earlier touring the mass vaccination site in Batavia, Underwood said you can see the hope and excitement on people’s faces about the vaccine.
But, she said, reports of increasing cases of COVID-19 around the country are troubling and threaten the economic recovery.
"While some people feel like, 'I got vaccinated, I'm fine, let me rip this mask off, and COVID is behind me' unfortunately that is not the reality across our community; so when we talk about the impact, particularly economically - these two things are so closely linked, between our opportunity for economic recovery and our ability to crush this virus," Underwood said.
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