COVID-19 vaccine deadline extended for Illinois healthcare providers, educators and students

CHICAGO - Gov. JB Pritzker has extended the deadline for healthcare workers, teachers and students in Illinois to receive their first dose of the mandated COVID-19 vaccine.

All healthcare workers, including nursing home employees, all P-12 teachers and staff, as well as higher education personnel and students will now be required to receive an initial dose of the COVID-19 vaccine by Sept. 19, 2021.

Pritzker announced the two-week extension on Friday to allow for more hospitals and schools to implement additional COVID-19 testing programs and accountability measures.

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"Vaccines remain our strongest tool to protect ourselves from COVID-19, the Delta variant, and most crucially, to maintain our healthcare system’s ability to care for anyone who walks through their doors in need of help," Pritzker said in a statement. "While hospitals and schools move forward in good faith, this extension ensures they are prepared to meet this requirement to better protect our most vulnerable residents and children who are not yet eligible to get vaccinated."

(Photo by JOEL SAGET / AFP) (Photo by JOEL SAGET/AFP via Getty Images)

The second dose of either two-dose vaccine must be received by 30 days after the first does, as directed by vaccine providers.

As of Friday, 8.4 million Illinoisans (66.2%) have received at least one dose of the vaccine, and 6.5 million are fully vaccinated (51.4%), according to state health officials. To date, 61% of Illinois children between the ages or 12 and 17 have been vaccinated, while 78.7% of adults and 93.7% of seniors have received their vaccination.