Omicron Chaos: Chicago Joins Boston, NYC in Barring Unvaccinated from Restaurants, Bars, Gyms 

Chicago mayor Lori Lightfoot is not backing down over a requirement for police officers to
Kamil Krzaczynski/AFP
Wendell Husebø

The city of Chicago joined Boston this week in barring unvaccinated residents from restaurants, bars, gyms amid omicron fears.

As the omicron chaos continues to bedevil President Biden’s promise to shut down the virus, Democrat-controlled cities are beginning to instate harsh restrictions on those who do not wish to get the jab.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot (D) said:

“If you have been living vaccine-free, your time is up. If you wish to live life with the ease to do the things you love, you must be vaccinated. This health order may pose an inconvenience to the unvaccinated, and in fact it is inconvenient by design.”

The new restrictions may negatively impact the local Chicago labor market and President Biden’s reeling economy. Inflation is at a 40 year high.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot (D) “has said she is determined to curb the winter surge of coronavirus cases driven by the Omicron variant without forcing Chicago restaurants to close their dining rooms again or reimpose capacity limits,” the Chicago Sun-Times wrote.

Illinois Restaurant Association President Sam Toia told the Sun-Times that he is opposed to such measures until January 3 after the holiday season.

Toia also suggested the city’s mandates should not apply to restaurant employees due to staffing shortages that many small businesses are feeling due to Biden’s coronavirus relief package in March, which paid people not to work.

“Usually in a dining room, a wait person has like a four-table station. Right now, they’re doing six- or seven-table stations. That’s why people are waiting longer” for service, Toia explained.

“If you lose more people, what is the wait supposed to do a 10-table station? It ain’t happening . . . You go out to eat for the food. But you come back for the service,” he added.

Chicago is not the only Democrat-controlled city with unvaccinated bans.

Boston announced Monday it would create a passport system to force vaccine compliance. If a resident is not vaccinated in Boston, they will be unable to use the gym, attend theaters, and drink at bars.

“It is unfortunate that, once again, private businesses are being placed in the unenviable position of having to enforce another government health directive,” State Director for NFIB in Massachusetts, Christopher Carlozzi, stated.

New York City has instituted even harsher unvaccinated restrictions. After December 27, no unvaccinated worker may work from the office.

“We’ve got omicron as a new factor, we’ve got the colder weather, which is really going to create additional challenges with the delta variant, we’ve got holiday gatherings,” Mayor de Blasio told MSNBC.

“We in New York City have decided to use a preemptive strike to really do something bold to stop the further growth of Covid and the dangers it’s causing to all of us,” he added.

Follow Wendell Husebø on Twitter @WendellHusebø

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