Illinois pumpkins: By the numbers

​Mayor Lori Lightfoot introduced in August That Every one metropolis of Chicago staff Want to be absolutely vaccinated in the direction of the coronavirus by Oct. 15, following pretty A pair of cities throughout the U.S. The mandate for Greater than 30,000 metropolis staff, Aside from these granted medical or spiritual exemptions, was immediately opposed by the Chicago Fraternal Order of Police, The Most very important union for The metropolis’s police division.

That triggered ongoing public sparring between Lightfoot and Catanzara, with the union chief at one level evaluating the vaccination mandate to the Holocaust. A swift condemnation from Lightfoot and others adopted, and Catanzara apologized.

Initially of October, Lightfoot ramped up the stakes, vowing unspecified “penalties” for metropolis staff who Did not meet the Oct. 15 deadline. That strong line acquired here Whilst a Outcome of the FOP informed its members They will circumvent the vaccination requirement by current process common COVID-19 testing with out menace of dropping pay or getting fired.

Lightfoot challenged that assertion, however then on Oct. 8 she agreed To permit metropolis staff to forgo the vaccine till The prime of the yr, In the event that they Undergo twice-weekly testing at Their very personal expense.

But she furtherly said staff who Do not fill out The metropolis portal type, Whether or not or not they’re vaccinated or not, Shall be positioned on a no-pay standing.

This week, the rhetoric between the mayor and Catanzara heated up further, with the latter vowing a lawsuit and instructing members to defy the reporting requirements on The metropolis type as Friday’s deadline loomed.

Then Friday morning, Lightfoot introduced The metropolis filed an injunctive grievance a day earlier in the direction of the FOP and Catanzara, claiming he was “partaking in, supporting, And inspiring A bit sprimepage or strike.”

A minimal Of 4 Chicago Cops have died from COVID-19, and the FOP introduced the demise of its typeer president Dean Angelo from complicates of COVID-19 on Tuesday — The identical day Catanzara menaceened authorized movement over the vaccine mandate.