State Senator Darren Bailey (R-Louisville) is calling out issues with the state’s vaccine program for failing to make satisfactory progress with residents of skilled-care facilities and nursing homes.
Bailey joined with his colleagues in the Illinois Senate Republican Caucus to author a letter to the Governor noting their concerns and asking Pritzker to make course corrections to improve the vaccine program. The letter pointed to a recent New York Times article that ranked Illinois 47th overall in vaccine distribution, and dead last compared to the sister states of Florida, New York, Pennsylvania, Texas, and California. According to statistics from the Illinois Department of Public Health, of the 537,050 doses of vaccines available and allotted to long-term care facilities, only 20 percent of them have been administered. The long-term care facility population has made up nearly half of the COVID-related deaths.
“It’s clear the state’s efforts are failing to protect our most vulnerable,” said Sen. Bailey. “I think all along through this pandemic we’ve seen a complete lack of transparency from the Governor’s office in how they are handling things and a refusal to look at evidence and change course when it’s clearly necessary.”
A copy of the letter is below.
The New York Times article referenced can be found at: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/us/covid-19-vaccine-doses.html
