DeKalb Times

Republican candidate for governor Gary Rabine wants Gov. J.B. Pritzker to end mandates requiring students to be vaccinated against COVID before returning to school in the fall.

“Stop bullying Illinois children into getting an experimental vaccine,” Rabine recently posted on Facebook and Twitter. “I’m calling on JB Pritzker to immediately issue an executive order banning K-12 school districts, private schools and colleges in Illinois from mandating and requiring students to get a COVID vaccine.”

Rabine’s demand comes after Northern Illinois University recently joined the list of at least nine state universities requiring all students be vaccinated before the start of the upcoming fall semester. The Illinois Board of Higher Education and the Community College Board also recently advised that students be mandated to receive COVID shots.

Part of Rabine’s outrage revolves around the fact that of the three COVID vaccinations currently available only the Pfizer shot is approved by the FDA for emergency use in children ages 12-18.

Unvaccinated students will be required to wear face coverings and submit to on-campus testing that includes multiple checks each week.

Rabine says it’s just more of the same from Pritzker in terms of his policies and positions proving to be all wrong for Illinois.

“I’m running because I can see my family, my friends’ families and so many others that just want to get out of here,” he recently told IllinoisChannelTV. “It bothers me so bad. I’ve been in business for 40 years, the last 20 building businesses as a leader, understanding what great leadership looks like and it’s not what we see in our governor and our mayor of Chicago. I’m confident we need a leadership mindset that understands how to build leaders and doesn’t rule like royalty.”