CHAMPAIGN — Four weeks remain until the start of classes at the University of Illinois. Last year’s classroom capacity limits are gone; students, faculty and staff are required to be vaccinated.

ST. JOSEPH — Last July, school plans were in flux, constantly changing as new COVID-19 data came in. Knowing how schools would operate simply wasn’t possible.

SPRINGFIELD — Gov. J.B. Pritzker isn’t considering using federal American Rescue Plan Act funding to pay down a multibillion-dollar Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund deficit, and he’s watching the state’s COVID-19 hospitalization numbers closely.

This fall, full buildings of students will return, barring a drastic change in course. The state has mandated that all schools return for full instruction, and guidelines have shifted. Now, students are recommended to keep three feet of distance instead of six. State-wide mask mandates have loosened, particularly for unvaccinated students and staff. 

In many ways, though, the buildings looks similar to the one that students left in the spring.

Now that the UI system is requiring faculty and staff on all three of its campuses to get fully vaccinated before the start of the fall semester, university employees want to see how the requirement looks in practice.

Wrote President Tim Killeen in a Wednesday mass mail: “We recognize that some individuals are not able to be vaccinated. That is why it is so important that those of us who can get vaccinated do so."

“We recommend that everyone who is not vaccinated wear a mask,” Superintendent Vic Zimmerman says. “It’s up to you. It’s your choice to do so or not. So, you’re not going to get in trouble if you’re not wearing one, we’re not going to call you out if you’re unvaccinated and not wearing one."

“Vaccination is the leading prevention strategy against COVID-19 and all public and private universities are strongly encouraged to require vaccination to protect campus populations and slow COVID-19 transmission in surrounding communities.”

Spokesperson: “Currently, there is no plan to implement any additional mitigations now that there is an abundance of vaccine available and accessible across Illinois. We encourage all Illinoisans ages 12+ to get vaccinated as soon as possible.”

“We know nationally, up to 50 percent of the cases could be the result of the variant,” C-U Public Health's Awais Vaid said Thursday. “If people are traveling ... there’s a risk of bringing it back.”

Last spring and summer, our Anthony Zilis 
told the stories of dozens of community members impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic in a variety of ways. Today, he checks back in on five subjects featured here in 2020.

Of the 19 COVID deaths in Champaign County since April 1, 16 were among people who hadn’t been vaccinated, according to Champaign-Urbana Public Health District Deputy Administrator Awais Vaid.

'You’re filling Wrigley Field and other places without masks and without social distancing. It’s confusing; it’s conflicting,' Mahomet-Seymour Superintendent Lindsey Hall said of the Illinois State Board of Education requiring students wear masks this fall.

As school physicals get under way for this fall, some parents remain on the fence about whether to get their kids vaccinated for COVID-19. Carle's head of pediatrics, Dr. Brent Reifsteck, gives reasons why parents should choose vaccination.

"Though I personally had no direct influence on this (vaccination) decision, I am pleased with it," Professor Sheldon Jacobson writes. The UI "joins a growing list of other institutions that have come to the same conclusions and taken the same steps forward."

Your bargaining power as a prospective employee may never be better. As competition for workers remains fierce, some businesses are offering well over Illinois’ $11 minimum wage and bonuses perhaps never seen before by job-seekers.

A year away from Appalachia hasn’t dampened John Storsved’s enthusiasm for helping people.

The last group of unvaccinated students — the “I’ll do it if I have to” crowd — constitutes about 7 percent of campus, according to monthly COVID-19 surveys the university collected. That’s who this week's announcement was truly targeting.

Dozens of people getting vaccinated for COVID-19 at a community health center will be in line for a free meal.

“I’ll definitely be more at ease knowing everyone will be vaccinated, because I didn’t want to expose myself unnecessarily last year,” sophomore Grant Feldman said. “Knowing that everyone here will have to be vaccinated, I’ll feel a lot safer, and a lot of activities will be able to open up.”

Gov. J.B. Pritzker had signed 17 of the 664 bills as of Friday, including the Thursday signing of the state’s operating budget and a bill making several changes to the state election code.