Gov. J.B. Pritzker has stepped up his public relations campaign to convince Illinois residents that an experimental coronavirus vaccine that could be authorized by the federal government this week will be safe to take.
Pritzker invited a 68-year-old African American woman who was a participant in the Moderna trials to his daily news conference on Tuesday in hopes of easing concerns, especially in Black communities, about taking the vaccine.
Bonnie Blue suffers from asthma that has resulted in her being on life support 13 times. She noted while she was at high risk to participate she came away with just a small amount of fatigue and headache.
“I am really excited about this. And I am prayerful that people will do what most people say. I will do anything for my family. So if you will do anything for your family, survive for your family. Guide your family into doing what they need to do to live.”
Pritzker noted the Pfizer Phase 3 trials had almost no undesirable effects on the 40,000 involved. He says while the vaccines are being made available quickly, the science in developing them dates to well before the pandemic first hit.
In addition to the FDA review, Pritzker says the state is conducting its own review of the vaccines before making them available to Illinois residents.
Pritzker and the state’s public health director, Dr. Ngozi Ezike, said the initial 109,000 doses of a vaccine could arrive in Illinois as soon as next week. They will go first to health care workers in the 50 counties with the highest number of cases.
Photo: Bonnie Blue as she appeared via Zoom call during Governor’s daily COVID update on Tuesday.
