Dupage Policy Journal

Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s latest universal masking mandate is meeting with resistance from Republicans.

“With Gov. Pritzker’s vaccine mandate, it's incredible that he ignores natural immunity & doesn't exempt individuals who've had COVID. Why is that,” The DuPage County GOP recently posted on Twitter. “The science is quite clear natural immunity is more protective than the vaccine. This isn't about science or public safety.”

Monica Gandi, an infectious diseases and HIV doctor at University of California, San Francisco, is in agreement with the Republican organization’s position.

“Agree with conclusion here which is we don’t want natural infection we want vaccines,” Gandi posted to Twitter. “Don’t take from this to get infected. But also don’t deny natural immunity. Having COVID confers much greater immunity than a vaccine—but no infection parties, please”

Earlier this month and just before many schools across the state were set to reopen their doors for in-person learning, the governor enacted a universal masking mandate for all public and private school students.

 More recently, as infection rates have risen with the spread of the Delta variant, Pritzker also announced he is reimposing a statewide indoor mask mandate on state residents regardless of vaccination status.

"Masks work. Period," he recently told the Prairie State Wire.

AM 560 reporter Amy Jacobson recently presented staffers with a copy of an Aug. 20 New York Magazine article titled, "The Science of Masking Kids at School Remains Uncertain."

In the article, the writer points to a recent U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) study of K-12 mask mandates and other anti-Covid measures in 169 Georgia schools impacting nearly 100,000 students over a month-long period beginning in November 2020, where it was concluded masks "could not be said to be effective."

Critics have also pointed to a recent Wall Street Journal editorial by Johns Hopkins University professor Marty Makary and H. Cody Meissner, who is chief of pediatric infectious diseases at Tufts Children's Hospital in Boston. The editorial, entitled "The Case against Masks for Children,” concludes masks are not only ineffective but harm children, in such ways as blocking their nasal passages and forcing them to "mouth-breathe."

Researchers said "those who have myopia can have difficulty seeing because the mask fogs their glasses. Masks can cause severe acne and other skin problems. The discomfort of a mask distracts some children from learning. By increasing airway resistance during exhalation, masks can lead to increased levels of carbon dioxide in the blood. And masks can be vectors for pathogens if they become moist or are used for too long."

Across the Midwest, Indiana, Iowa, Wisconsin, Kentucky and Missouri have universal mask mandates in place.

“While Pritzker orders families abide by his overreaching diktats & force kids at little to no risk to mask, many in med community say opposite... ‘futile to impose vaccine mandates’, ‘people who had covid & recovered should not get this vaccine’, ‘eliminate mask mandate for kids,’” the DuPage County GOP said in another post to Twitter.

As the governor continues to defend his actions, state Rep. Blaine Wilhour (R-Effingham) views his actions as just another example of how out of touch he is with the will of the people.                                                                                                                         

"This newest Executive Order by Gov. Pritzker, using our children as political pawns to coerce everyone to take the Covid-19 vaccine, is not acceptable," Wilhour recently wrote in a Facebook post.

 The new policy also stipulates that all state employees working at congregate settings like long-term care facilities or veterans’ homes must also be vaccinated by Oct. 4.