Mayor Lori Lightfoot announces vaccine mandate for city workers

Mayor Lori Lightfoot has mandated that all city employees will be required to be vaccinated against Covid 19 by October 15.  "City employees are absolutely going to be required to be vaccinated," Lightfoot said during a press conference Monday afternoon. Unions, including the Fraternal Order of Police, are resisting this vaccine mandate.

“As cases of COVID-19 continue to rise, we must take every step necessary and at our disposal to keep everyone in our city safe and healthy,” Lightfoot said in press release yesterday (Aug. 24). “Getting vaccinated has been proven to be the best way to achieve that and make it possible to recover from this devastating pandemic. And so, we have decided to join other municipalities and government agencies across the nation, including the U.S. military, who are making this decision to protect the people who are keeping our cities and country moving. We have also been in close communication with our partners in the labor movement to create a vaccination policy that is workable, fair and effective.”

The policy applies to all city employees and volunteers, and masking and social-distancing requirements in the workplace will stay in place. The city's Department of Human Resources will review applications for medical or religious exemption on a case-by-case basis.

"Employees will be asked to submit their proof of vaccination via a secure, online COVID-19 Vaccine Portal," the city said.