I just spoke with customer service.  They expect to be released for processing sometime between today and this Thursday.  My frustration was that there appeared to be no update or even rough ETAs once the various form & instructions were finalized (Jan 24th).  So this is for everyone else out there looking for an answer.  And, yes, it prevents e-filing.  The critical diagnostics no longer appears, it just gives an error message when you click the e-file button saying the Pro-Connect is not yet processing the returns.