Illinois Valley Times

Sen. Sue Rezin (R-Morris) fails to see the rationale in Gov. J.B. Pritzker's efforts to steer state lawmakers to the front of the COVID-19 vaccination line.

"The governor has decided to prioritize legislators over the sick and the vulnerable with his altered vaccine distribution plan," Rezin told the Illinois Valley Times. "We receive phone calls every day about elderly with preexisting conditions who cannot get an appointment for a vaccine. It doesn't make any sense to inoculate healthy lawmakers over people who are most at risk of dying from COVID-19."

After insisting he had no plans of doing so, the governor recently authorized that the 177 state lawmakers were eligible for the shot right away as part of Phase 1B of the state inoculation plan. Pritzker's special treatment places legislators in the same class as seniors, teachers, police officers, firefighters, paramedics and grocery store workers in terms of the pecking order.

Pritzker's order comes despite Illinois House and Senate members-only meeting in Springfield in-person a few times over the last year and having just one such session between the two chambers scheduled for the rest of the month.

Rezin has long been a vocal critic of the governor's handling of the vaccine's rollout, earlier joining with a group of other GOP lawmakers to issue a letter to Pritzker demanding answers after the state at one point ranked 47th in the country in overall vaccine distribution.

"Illinois' vaccine distribution ranking underscores the Pritzker Administration's blatant failures to protect Illinois citizens," Rezin said in a statement posted to her website. "Throughout this entire pandemic, Gov. Pritzker has chosen to unilaterally act without the input of the legislature. The governor must now explain to the people of Illinois why our vaccination distribution ranks among the worst in the country. It is time for him to give up his steadfast refusal to allow our co-equal branch of government to be involved in the management of this virus."