Orland Park Trustees Pass Resolution Vowing Not To Enforce Cook County COVID-19 Vaccination Mandate For Restuarants, Gyms
ORLAND PARK, Ill. (CBS) -- You can put your COVID-19 vaccine cards away if you're dining or working out in suburban Orland Park.
The village on Tuesday night passed a resolution saying they will not enforce Cook County's new vaccine mandate.
As CBS 2's Meredith Barack reported, the Orland Park Village Board of Trustees voted 6-0 Tuesday night in favor of that resolution. Leaders in the southwest suburb said there are not data to support such a mandate, and called it a political move by Cook County.
"If a mandate is going to be passed, it should be passed by law. it should be done by the legislative body, and additionally, it should be supported by data and facts," said Orland Park Mayor Keith Pekau.
Pekau said that is exactly what was lacking when Cook County made the decision to enforce a vaccination mandate at restaurants, gyms, and other establishments starting Monday, Jan. 3.
"I immediately sent a letter asking for a series of pieces of information regarding the data that supports this decision, and I've received nothing back," Pekau said.
The mayor said Orland Park never enforced a mask mandate, and they have had lower case rates than Illinois and suburban Cook County as a whole.
A total of 94 percent of Orland Park residents are vaccinated against COVID-19. Some of those residents came out to support the decision inside Village Hall Tuesday night.
"There is no evidence that the vaxxed versus the unvaccinated can catch this disease more," said Diane Murphy.
One trustee questioned why this mandate was not being enforced at places such as retail establishments, hospitals, and schools. Another said he believes the mandate would be unattractive to new businesses looking to set up shop in their community.
Mayor Pekau said the resolution is a step toward making many people realize we cannot control COVID-19.
"If we can learn how to live with it and conduct our lives as normally as possible with this going on - because I think this is going to be going on for the rest of our lives," Pekau said. "I don't think it's going anywhere."
The mayor said if a business does want to follow the vaccine mandate, it is completely up to them.