Lori Lightfoot Shoots Chicago in the.....Foot

In yet another example of vaccines utterly failing to contain covid or prevent hospitalizations, Chicago is moving to implement vax passports. There’s a lot to unpack here, and it’s going to take a while. Settle in.

Mayor Lori E. Lightfoot @chicagosmayor

We didn’t want it to get to this point, but given the situation we find ourselves in, we have no choice. Beginning Jan. 3, you must show proof you are fully vax'd to enter bars, restaurants, fitness centers, and entertainment/recreational venues where food/drink are served. 🧵

Chicago Department of Public Health - CDPH @ChiPublicHealth

Starting January 3rd, the City of Chicago will require patrons of certain indoor spaces to be vaccinated against COVID-19. This decision is driven in part by the Omicron variant and is in line with requirements already in place in other big cities including NYC and LA. 🧵1/2 https://t.co/GA64RpJki9

First of all, let’s focus on the fact that this ‘emergency order’ doesn’t actually start for two weeks. If this were actually about public health, why wouldn’t you establish this BEFORE the major holidays? ESPECIALLY IF, as Lori says in a subsequent tweet, they expect a post-holiday hospitalization surge? If the vaccine works, why are you acting as if it doesn’t?

Secondly, the CDPH notes that this is ‘in line with other big cities including NYC and LA. How is that working out in NYC again? This is literally ‘if your friends jumped off a bridge….’ territory. This is not a reason to enact major regulations.

Now, that aside, let’s dive into the actual numbers in Chicago.

The hospital is running at 85% capacity, which is a little slow if anything for this time of year. Only 8.7% of their non-icu beds are being taken by somebody with a positive test (or a possible positive). This means you could ALMOST TRIPLE the number of covid patients in Chicago before you start running into space problems.

Does Lori Lightfoot think that covid hospitalizations are going to TRIPLE in the next couple weeks? That would put them at 1,800 or so hospitalizations, about 600 more than their previous peak in April 2020, when acquired immunity was lowest and there were no vaccines! (1800 would be just about the top of that little box on the right)

So clearly this isn’t actually responding to an ACTUAL emergency, only what might turn into an emergency in the future — and only if vaccines actually make the situation worse than doing nothing.

Inevitably, the businesses in question will half-heartedly enforce vax standards, (who wants to turn away customers, especially knowing that getting the jab doesn’t mean you’re safe) leading to the police doing ‘sting’ operations using fake vax cards. While Chicago homicides are out of control, the city will be using manpower to check the vax status of its citizens.

Let’s remind ourselves what that looks like in the real world.

Jewish Deplorable @TrumpJew2

Man was arrested in Brooklyn, NY after trying to order food at Panera Bread without a vaccine pass

I count eight police officers involved to remove this guy from Panera Bread. Obviously this is about the safety of the public.

As a libertarian, I respect the right of a business to employ their own rules. But I also realize that these rules were put into place at the behest of government, so they aren’t REALLY private decisions. I liken them to the stores that refused to serve blacks during the ‘60s due to government rules, ultimately leading to sit-ins. The goal of the sit-in was to draw the public eye to the injustice of the law. Watching police drag peaceful people out of stores made the public realize how terrible these laws were.

Unsurprisingly, the public health order makes no mention of those who have already recovered from covid. I do not see exemptions for any reason at all. But what it DOES say is that the order is likely to become more restrictive AND it will remain in place until the city decides to stop it.

WHEREAS, In light of the rapid and unpredictable spread of the Omicron variant, it is foreseeable that the vaccination requirements in this Order will be expanded in the near future;

and

SECTION 9. This Order shall remain in effect until the Commissioner makes a written determination that the threat to public health posed by COVID-19 has diminished to the point that this Order can be safely repealed.

Additionally, the definition of ‘fully vaccinated’ can change on whim.

“Proof of full vaccination” means proof that an individual has been fully vaccinated, with “fully vaccinated” status determined by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidance or Chicago Department of Public Health posted guidelines, whichever is the most restrictive.

This is nearly total control over the city of Chicago, without an end date and with a crisis completely defined by the entity grabbing the power. All this for a leaky vaccine that doesn’t stop transmission. It’s long past time for the people affected by these terrible mandates to stand up and refuse to comply.