(Reuters) -Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker is expected to announce a new COVID-19 policy for the state on Thursday, requiring eligible students and school staffers to be vaccinated and to wear masks in schools and colleges, the Chicago Tribune and other media reported.
Pritzker, a Democrat, is also expected to order an indoor mask mandate statewide, including children age 2 and above, the Tribune reported citing two unnamed sources.
The announcement is set to come amid a resurgence of COVID cases spurred largely by the Delta variant of the virus and increasing reports of “breakthrough” cases where people already vaccinated get sick.
On Monday, the Pfizer-BioNtech vaccine was given full approval for use by the federal government. But Pfizer authorization is for people ages 16 an older, not younger children.
(Reporting by Rich McKay in Atlanta;Editing by Bernadette Baum)
