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CHAMPAGNE – Governor JB Pritzker’s order that all healthcare and education workers and college students be vaccinated against COVID-19 or begin testing regularly goes into effect on Monday.
What it will mean for those who are not vaccinated: Mandatory testing for COVID-19 at least once a week. And for those who will not have tests available at their workplace, this will need to be done at one of the community sites that manage surveillance tests.
In Champaign County, this includes the two SHIELD CU sites – at Parkland College and UI Campus Recreation Center East – and the state-run trial site at Market Place Mall.
“The Christie Clinic does not perform any COVID-19 monitoring or testing for employees,” said clinical services director Michelle Antonacci, adding that employees and patients in need of testing should do so in a community setting.
COO Matthew Kolb said Carle is setting up internal testing options for unvaccinated employees, but directing those outside the system to community testing sites.
Carle’s drive-thru site on Mattis Avenue will remain reserved for patients with symptoms of COVID-19 and those who need to be tested before medical procedures, he said.
SHIELD CU, a partnership between OSF HealthCare and the University of Illinois, is preparing for a significant influx of testing starting Monday, according to Alaine Robinson.
To help account for this, SHIELD CU will add a third community test site, which will open at Danville Area Community College on Friday.
Under Pritzker’s decree, all employees working in health care and pre-K-12 schools, and all higher education employees and students, are required to have at least the first dose of vaccine before Monday or start at least weekly tests and continue while they remain unvaccinated.
Awais Vaid, deputy director of the Champaign-Urbana public health district, said he did not expect much higher demand for testing at community sites in Champaign County when the order goes into effect.
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