I've talked with a friend that's a Chicago Police (decorated military veteran, decorated police officer) that's about 7 years from retirement with a big fat pension.
He's willing to lose his job over the most ridiculous bullshit. He's fully vaccinated to protect his immune compromise mother that lives at home with him and to protect himself because his wife works part-time at a nearby Catholic parish...same Parish that my mom is a member.
- I was shocked by something he said to me over the telephone this past weekend...
He refuses to follow orders to disclose his vaccination status in some department disclosure forms even though
he's fully vaccinated and he refuses to submit to weekly Covid tests (two tests per week) for those that do not want to be vaccinated and for those that do not want to disclose their vaccination status.
He went on to say he's
standing in solidarity with his brothers in protest that are doing the same and are fully vaccinated to make a point after being
guided by their Union to do such (Fraternal Order of Police).
- Also, he said 21 of them in his department alone are fully vaccinated and refuse to disclose their vaccination status and refuse to have weekly Covid tests because they were told to do such by their Union.
Yet, they're lost a handful of officers to Covid citywide and a handful of retired Police officers to Covid. I just don't understand that they're willing to lose their job for refusing to disclose their vaccination status when they're fully vaccinated and refuse to do the weekly Covid testing for those that do not want to disclose their vaccination status just to make a point against Lightfoot and the Chicago Public Health officials.
Also, he's fully aware that Covid is the most common reason for death among Police Officers across the United States.
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Just 54% of Chicago Police Officers Tell City Officials They Are Vaccinated Against COVID-19
Heather Cherone | October 18, 2021 3:30 pm
Approximately 54% of Chicago Police officers told city officials they are fully vaccinated against COVID-19,
according to data released Monday by city officials after the Chicago's vaccinate mandate for all city employees took effect.
Approximately 10.4% of the department’s 12,770 employees told the city they had not been fully vaccinated and agreed to be tested twice a week for COVID-19 until Dec. 31, according to the data.
More than 35.6% of the Chicago Police Department — 4,543 employees — are in jeopardy of being disciplined and eventually fired for failing to comply with Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s order that they disclose their vaccination status to the city.
Lightfoot told reporters that “a small number of officers” were disciplined Monday for failing to comply with the vaccine mandate, which took effect Friday.
Employees who did not comply with the mandate will get “one last chance” to do the right thing, Lightfoot said.
Approximately 4,500 city employees across all departments asked for an exemption to the vaccine, citing medical or religious reasons, officials said.
The Chicago Fire Department has the second lowest rate of compliance with the city’s vaccine mandate, according to the data.
Approximately 60% of the Chicago Fire Department told the city they are fully vaccinated. Approximately 11.5% of the department’s 4,907 employees told the city they had not been fully vaccinated and agreed to be tested twice a week for COVID-19 until Dec. 31, according to the data.
Nearly 28% of the Chicago Fire Department — 1,369 employees — are in jeopardy of being disciplined or fired for failing to disclose their vaccination status to the city.
Every other city department had more than 80% of their employees disclose their vaccination status to city officials, including the Office of Public Safety Administration, which is charged with performing administrative functions for the police and fire departments.
More than 70% of the city’s Office of Emergency Management and Communications, which includes the city’s 9-1-1 dispatchers have been vaccinated, and more than 90% of the department’s 919 employees disclosed their vaccination status to the city, according to city data.
Approximately 74.5% of all city employees told the city they have been vaccinated against COVID-19, and nearly 78.5% disclosed their status to the city, according to city data.
That is a "big win" for the city, moving it one step closer to the end of the pandemic, Lightfoot said.
Data from the Chicago Department of Public Health shows that 74.3% of all Chicagoans older than 12 have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and 68.3% are fully vaccinated.
Lightfoot said Friday that the refusal of officers to get vaccinated against COVID-19 and disclose that status
threatens efforts to rebuild trust in the beleaguered Chicago Police Department.
“That’s what at stake — the legitimacy of local policing,” Lightfoot said.
Officers who refuse to get vaccinated should leave the Chicago Police Department, Lightfoot said.
“We’re not having that,” Lightfoot said. “If that’s the police department they want to be in, they should walk to another police department. It is an honor to be a Chicago Police officer.”
Police and other first responders — who come in close physical contact with Chicagoans — must be vaccinated to protect the health and safety of Chicagoans, Lightfoot said.
“Those residents have a right to expect that those officers are not going to get them sick,” Lightfoot said. “Residents have a right to know that city of Chicago employees take their health and their well-being as seriously as they take their own and that of their family.”
https://news.wttw.com/2021/10/18/ju...fficials-they-are-vaccinated-against-covid-19
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