Illinois has released its own recommendations on COVID-19 vaccines — urging all adults and many children to get the shots, in a break with the federal government’s guidance.
The release came a day after the Illinois Department of Public Health Immunization Advisory Committee voted unanimously to recommend updated COVID-19 vaccines for all Illinois residents ages 18 and older. That committee also voted to recommend the shots for all children ages 6 to 23 months old and for children between the ages of 2 and 17 if they are in higher risk groups, or if their parents want them to have the shot.
The state followed the committee’s votes in making its own recommendations.
“At a time when the federal government is abdicating its responsibility to provide clear, science-informed guidance, Illinois is stepping up,” said Gov. JB Pritzker, in a news release. “Illinois will continue to empower providers and families across our state with the information and access they need to guard against illness and disease.”
The Illinois Department of Public Health also issued a “standing order” allowing health care providers and pharmacists across the state to administer the shots in line with the state’s recommendations.
Federal insurance and state-regulated health insurance plans must cover the vaccine. Most of the largest private health insurers in the country have also said they plan to continue covering the vaccines at no cost to patients.
Illinois is one of a number of states that have gone their own way on COVID-19 vaccines this year after U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. fired and replaced all the members of a federal vaccine advisory committee. Changes at the federal level have led to confusion in recent months over who might be able to get updated COVID-19 vaccines.
That federal committee decided last week to no longer recommend COVID-19 vaccines and instead leave it up to individuals whether to get the shots.
“Democrat-run states that pushed unscientific school lockdowns, toddler mask mandates, and draconian vaccine passports during the COVID era completely eroded the American people’s trust in public health agencies,” said U.S. Department of Health and Human Services spokesperson Andrew Nixon in a statement Tuesday. “(The federal advisory committee) remains the scientific body guiding immunization recommendations in this country, and HHS will ensure policy is based on rigorous evidence and Gold Standard Science, not the failed politics of the pandemic.”
In addition to recommending COVID-19 vaccines, the Illinois Department of Public Health on Tuesday also recommended flu vaccines for all people ages 6 months and older.
The health department recommended RSV vaccines for all pregnant people during weeks 32 through 36 of pregnancy; infants less than 8 months old whose mothers didn’t get the vaccine; children ages 8 months through 19 months who are at increased risk for severe RSV; adults ages 50 through 74 who are at increased risk of severe RSV; and all adults ages 75 years and older.
RSV, or respiratory syncytial virus, usually causes mild, coldlike symptoms and most people recover in a week or two. Babies and older adults, however, are more likely to develop severe cases.
The state health department is also recommending for routine, nonseasonal vaccines that Illinois residents continue to follow CDC immunization schedules for children and adults issued as of Aug. 7, 2025, before the most recent meeting of the federal vaccine advisory committee.
Originally Published: September 24, 2025 at 11:02 AM CDT