Tuesday, February 16, 2021
Crain's Chicago Business
by Ally Marotti

The Illinois Restaurant Association asked Gov. J.B. Pritzker to make restaurant workers eligible now for COVID-19 vaccines, more than a month sooner than currently scheduled.

The association sent Pritzker a letter last week arguing that restaurants are “a vital and essential” part of the way people are fed, and deserve quicker access to the vaccine. (Read the letter below.)

Meanwhile, because of "significant progress in the fight against the COVID-19 virus," the city is easing its indoor dining restrictions today. Bars, restaurants and events will offer indoor service at 40 percent capacity or 50 people, whichever is fewer. Chicago recorded fewer than 400 new COVID-19 cases per day over the last three days, and its percent positivity is now 3.6 percent. See the latest COVID figures for the city and state in the charts below.

“In recent days, we have made incredible progress in the ongoing effort to save lives and defeat this deadly virus,” Mayor Lori Lightfoot said in a release. “I am thrilled that we have made enough headway to cautiously ease more regulations, but I once again want to remind all our businesses and residents that we are not out of the woods yet. Only by committing to what we know works will we be able to continue moving forward carefully and responsibly.”

Restaurant workers are slated to become eligible in Phase 1C of Illinois’ rollout plan, expected to start in late March. Phase 1B is underway and includes front-line essential workers such as teachers, manufacturing workers, inmates, grocery store workers and more.

Sam Toia, president and CEO of the restaurant association, wants restaurant workers added to that phase. He said they are essential, just like those who work in grocery stores. He said restaurant operators have reached out to the association, which represented more than 25,000 restaurants and food service outlets pre-pandemic, in hopes of increasing the priority of their workers in the vaccine rollout.

The federal government’s vaccine supply will remain limited until production ramps up, said Jordan Abudayyeh, spokeswoman for Pritzker.

“The governor understands the frustration of those who are eager to get vaccinated, but federal guidance is clear that it is vital to protect our most medically vulnerable because they are at the greatest risk of severe illness and death,” she said in a statement. “The state is encouraged by the Biden administration’s commitment to ramp up vaccine distribution . . . and we are eager to expand the pool of people who qualify for vaccination as soon as possible.”

The state is roughly two months in to its vaccine rollout, and demand far outpaces supply. Scheduling vaccine appointments has been tricky at best and infuriating for many.

Toia said he worries about how long restaurant workers will have to wait even after they become eligible. “We’re still a good four, five weeks away” from eligibility, he said. “One of our concerns is, Will we be able to start scheduling appointments at the end of March?”