Illinois expands free and discounted COVID-19 testing to elementary schools

Illinois elementary schools can now use COVID-19 testing for little to no cost after the Illinois Department of Public Health announced its access expansion.

The saliva-based covidSHIELD test developed by the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign is already available for middle schools, high schools and community colleges. Schools, local health departments and the state health department will receive test results within 24 hours of specimens reaching a SHIELD Illinois lab, according to a news release from the state health department.

Local health departments will still be responsible for contact tracing.

The Pfizer BioNTech vaccine is the only COVID vaccine authorized for children under the age of 18. Currently, children as young as 12 can be vaccinated — excluding almost all elementary-aged students.

Testing is free for schools in districts that are predominantly low-income — as determined by the Illinois State Board of Education’s evidence-based funding criteria — and have experienced high rates of COVID infection. Other schools will have to pay a discounted fee of $10 per test.

The Illinois Department of Public Health uses the COVID-19 Social Vulnerability Index as one way to identify school districts with high rates of infection, according to department spokeswoman Melaney Arnold. The index looks at 15 indicators in four categories: socioeconomic status, household composition and disability, minority status and language minority, and housing type and transportation. These indicators help prioritize distribution for resources, like testing sites and vaccines.

Federal funds from the CARES Act and American Rescue Plan are being used by the state health department to pay for the rapid results testing, which is part of a $225 million agreement between the state and the University of Illinois system to identify asymptomatic individuals and stem the spread of COVID.

“As we move ever closer to returning to how we lived pre-pandemic, it is critically important that we identify cases of COVID-19 as quickly as possible to help prevent outbreaks, which could ultimately lead to new surges,” said IDPH Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike in a statement. “Offering testing in schools, along with vaccination and masking, can help protect students, staff and teachers when in-person learning resumes.”

In May, the Illinois State Board of Education unanimously approved a resolution intended to be a “signal” to districts that schools will have to provide fully in-person learning in the fall. Local districts will still be able to provide remote options if they choose to, and they will be required to provide remote learning opportunities to students who are both ineligible to be vaccinated and are under a quarantine order.

The state board expects that most of those cases requiring remote learning will be elementary-aged students, Director of Communications Jackie Matthews said in an email statement at the time.

Clinical trials for the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine — as well as the Moderna-NIAID and Johnson & Johnson vaccines — have been expanded to include children. It’s expected that the Pfizer shot will be authorized for children under the age of 12 sometime in the fall.

Illinois is set to fully re-open on Friday, while still recommending face coverings for unvaccinated people, including children, as well as requiring masks of all individuals on public transportation and in transportation hubs, in congregate facilities, and in healthcare settings. Businesses and venues may require face coverings and other mitigations at their discretion.

Editor’s note: This story was updated on Friday, June 11 at 2 p.m. with clarifying information from the Illinois Department of Public Health.

This story was originally published June 10, 2021 at 6:00 AM.