Pritzker: Mask guidelines in Illinois change -- if you’re vaccinated

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker and the Illinois Department of Public Health announced on Monday afternoon that the state has aligned its mask guidance with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention through an updating of the governor’s executive order. Fully vaccinated people will no longer be required to wear a face covering in most situations.

“The Governor is issuing an updated executive order to remove the mask requirement for fully vaccinated people in most settings, and the Illinois Department of Public Health is rescinding emergency rules in the Control of Communicable Disease Code that enforce masking and distancing for vaccinated people in business settings,” according to a news release. “In line with CDC guidance, individuals who are unvaccinated should continue wearing masks in most settings and both vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals should continue to wear masks on public transportation, in congregate facilities, and in healthcare settings.”

Businesses are free to still require masks, and people are still required to wear masks while riding trains, planes, buses or other forms of public transportation, as well as at airports.

[ Illinois announces first day with fewer than 1,000 new COVID-19 cases since March 15 ]

The CDC and President Joe Biden announced Thursday that fully vaccinated people do not need to wear masks in public, with exceptions such as public transit and airplanes.

The state issued a mask mandate to reduce spread of COVID-19 in May 2020 that had no provisions for vaccinations, which began in late December.

“I do think the CDC’s guidelines are good ones,” Pritzker said.

The state itself will not provide an official form of ID showing someone has been fully vaccinated, he said. That’s up to private businesses and individuals.

But the state “will provide data and information for private solutions like that,” said Pritzker who did not provide further details.

“We’re not going to stop people and starting checking for a vaccine passport as part of a state mandate,” he said.

The average number of vaccinations have declined since a peak in April.

“While the updated guidance from the CDC is welcome news, let me remind everyone that this guidance is only for those people who are fully vaccinated,” IDPH Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike said in a news release. “Individuals who do not have the protection afforded by one of the safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines should still wear a mask.  While more than 64% of adults in Illinois have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, we need to increase that number. To slow down disease spread and the development of even more deadly variants, we need as many people as possible to be vaccinated.”

Scientific and public health data shows that the COVID-19 vaccines work, which should motivate unvaccinated people to get a shot, Pritzker said.

“We are relying on people to do the right things,” he said. “We are relying on people to recognize that they don’t want to infect unvaccinated people and they themselves don’t want to get sick.”

Currently one vaccine, manufactured by Pfizer Inc., is available for everyone age 12 and up but that still leaves thousands of children unprotected against COVID-19. Trials are ongoing for kids age 11 and younger.