Governor JB Pritzker says the state will move to the so-called "bridge" phase on May 14. That's in advance of an anticipated full reopening on June 11.
The state is seeing COVID-19 metrics trending in the right direction again, and that's also true in the Peoria area, where positivity rates, COVID-related hospitalizations, and ICU usage are on a slow but steady decline again after weeks of surges.
For Peoria City/County Health Department Administrator Monica Hendrickson, that's good news, but no reason to throw caution to the wind just yet.
"This is something that we've been looking forward to, but it doesn't mean the pandemic is over. It just means that we're one step closer to getting back to some type of normalcy," she said.
Hendrickson says basic precautions like social distancing and mask wearing will still remain vital to continue moving forward in the coming weeks. She also encouraged those who haven't yet to take advantage of one of the myriad of vaccination options.
"Really, there is no excuse why not to get a vaccine," she said. "It's readily available, and it does a lot. And we've seen the impacts of it, with the decreases in our death rates, and even the severity of our illnesses."
It wasn't long ago that COVID-19 vaccines were in high demand and short supply. But now the situation is flipped. Vaccines are more available than ever before, with clinics hosted daily across the region. CVS, Walgreens, and many health departments now taking walk-ins. The governor is also authorizing doctors to administer vaccines in their offices.
But despite widespread availability, the rate of vaccinations is slowing down. About 34 percent of the Tri-County population is fully vaccinated, with another 4 percent somewhere in the process. That means many aren't rolling up their sleeves at all.
The Food and Drug Administration's expected approval of Pfizer vaccine administration in 12-to-15 year olds in the coming days may push that percentage upwards. The region's two major health care system are planning for that.
"They're going to do outreach to those individuals, and then work to get vaccinations done, either through the provider offices, now, with this vaccination, or we're looking to do some in the school setting, as well," she said.
OSF HealthCare and UnityPoint Health are continuing to host vaccination clinics in Tri-County schools. Hendrickson said all three Peoria high schools are now home to vaccine clinics in an effort to boost immunization rates.
As with all students younger than 18, parental permission will be required for younger kids to get vaccinated.
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