Pritzker, stakeholders reach agreement on COVID-19 sick leave for vaccinated school staff

Stakeholders announced an agreement Monday to allow fully vaccinated school teachers to receive paid sick leave.

The initiative, reached between Gov. JB Pritzker, the Illinois Education Association, the Illinois Federation of Teachers and other stakeholders, will cover fully vaccinated educators, school employees and their families, allowing them to receive paid sick leave if they or their child has to quarantine due to a COVID-19 exposure.

“This collaborative initiative will provide paid administrative leave for education employees who, despite doing all they can to keep themselves and their communities safe, continue to have their lives and livelihoods disrupted by COVID-19,” Pritzker said in a statement.

Pritzker vetoed a plan approved by the General Assembly last fall requiring school districts to provide all school employees, regardless of vaccination status, administrative leave for COVID-19-related sick days for themselves and their children.

Monday’s announcement comes as the Illinois Department of Public Health continues to report declines in the state’s COVID-19 metrics.

As of Sunday, 5,238 Illinoisans were in the hospital with COVID-19, down 173 from Saturday and down 1,464 from the prior week.

Of the patients in the hospital, 905 were in intensive care units, down 18 from Saturday and down 211 from the prior week. There were 541 patients on ventilators, up two from Saturday and down 97 from the prior week.

There were 9,462 new COVID-19 cases and 81 deaths reported on Monday.

The new cases bring the state total to 2,837,861, while the death toll increased to 30,155.

The seven-day average for new cases on Monday was 25,052, down 3,838 from the prior week. The seven-day average for daily deaths is 120, up 13 from the prior week.

The seven-day statewide positivity rate for cases as a percent of total tests is 11.6 percent. The seven-day statewide test positivity using the number of COVID-19 positive tests over total tests is 15.2 percent.

About 79.5 percent of eligible Illinoisans ages 5 and older have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, while 69.8 percent are fully vaccinated.

Illinois vaccinators have administered 20,305,950 COVID-19 vaccines, per state data, including 3,765,405 booster doses. The seven-day average of doses administered is 40,211.