Gov. JB Pritzker on Friday signed an executive order that aims to protect COVID-19 vaccine access in Illinois amid increased barriers to the shots nationwide under federal Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

With COVID cases slightly on the rise in Chicago ahead of the seasonal uptick in respiratory illness, Pritzker’s order establishes a Statewide Vaccine Access Initiative and directs Illinois Public Health Director Sameer Vohra to authorize pharmacies and other providers to administer the vaccines that have been proven to prevent severe cases.

Under Kennedy, a longtime vaccine skeptic, the federal Food and Drug Administration has approved the latest version of the COVID vaccine , but only for people 65 or older, or who have unspecified high-risk medical conditions

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