Illinois to expand vaccine eligibility to all adults on April 12

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker (D) announced Thursday that all residents ages 16 and older will be eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine on April 12.

Pritzker said during a news conference that he has directed local health departments, vaccination sites and pharmacy partners to expand eligibility.

The governor attributed the decision to the increase in weekly vaccine supply coming in from the federal government.

The city of Chicago will be exempt from Pritzer’s directive because it gets separate shipments from the federal government and has been setting its own standards for reopening and vaccinations.

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot (D) on Wednesday said that vaccine eligibility in the city will expand to residents with certain medical conditions or essential workers that have not yet qualified on March 29, The Chicago Tribune reported.

Pritzker said he was hopeful that the city would be on the same page with the rest of the state between April 12 and May 1.

Pritzker is the latest governor to announce that their state will expand vaccine eligibility ahead of President Biden’s directive to make all adults eligible by May 1.

Ohio will be expanding eligibility to all adults on March 29, while Michigan and Massachusetts will be expanding eligibility in early to mid-April.

The Prairie State has administered more than 4.3 million doses of coronavirus vaccines, Pritzker said. One-in-four adults have been vaccinated in the state, including 58 percent of people ages 65 and over.