CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- Mayor Lightfoot and other city officials announced Thursday a full expansion of the Vaccine Exemption for when Chicago enters the Bridge Phase on Friday, along with the rest of the state.
In addition to increased capacity limits under the Bridge Phase, businesses will also have the option of not counting fully vaccinated individuals towards COVID-19 capacity limits for all industries. According to the Mayor's Office, restaurants and bars will also be able to seat parties larger than 10 people if all patrons are fully vaccinated.
"It's been nearly five months since vaccines first arrived in our city and since their arrival, we've been able to turn a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel into a full-blown flood of hope," said Mayor Lightfoot, in a statement. "With more and more of our residents vaccinated, we will be able to reopen more and more of our city in a way that is not only safe, but will allow us to eventually return to a sense of normal. This Vaccine Exemption expansion announcement, as well as our city's shift into the Bridge Phase, proves that we are continuing to make progress in our mission of overcoming this pandemic once and for all."
Over the last two weeks, since the launch of “Open Chicago,” all of Chicago’s COVID-19 metrics continue to decline or remain stable, including the average daily case count (now under 400), test positivity (under 4 percent), and hospitalizations and deaths.
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“We are pleased to report continued progress in our fight to end this pandemic and I want to applaud all the Chicagoans who have made this possible by getting vaccinated and following the public health guidance,” said CDPH Commissioner Dr. Arwady, in a statement. “This further reopening is exciting, but we need everyone to continue to follow the health and safety guidance if we want to fully reopen for summer.”
The follow are changes made under Chicago's Bridge Phase:
Bars and Restaurants can:
• Operate within their regular liquor license hours
• Open standing areas for the first time at 25 percent capacity
Meetings, Conferences, and Conventions can:
• Increase capacity limits to the lesser of 60 percent or 1,000 people
Certain capacity limits will remain in place to keep patrons and employees safe, including the limit on table size to 10 people for any place that serves food or alcohol. However, in order to give businesses the opportunity to increase capacity safely while encouraging vaccine uptake, businesses will have the ability to take advantage of the Vaccine Exemption.
3 components of the Vaccine Exemption:
• Fully vaccinated individuals do not count towards COVID-19 capacity limits across all industries.
• Bars, restaurants, and other establishments that allow onsite consumption of food or alcohol can increase table or party size above the limit of 10 if all patrons age 16+ at that table or within that party are fully vaccinated.
• Late Hour Liquor Licensees can operate without hour restrictions for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic began if only fully vaccinated patrons are permitted to enter. While all bars and restaurants are allowed to stay open under standard hours in the Chicago Bridge Phase, this will allow Late Hour establishments to stay open until 4 a.m. Monday through Saturday morning and 5 a.m. on Sunday morning if all patrons are fully vaccinated.
Businesses who choose to take advantage of the Vaccine Exemption will be expected to verify that patrons are fully vaccinated and track which customers are exempt from capacity limits to ensure compliance. A full overview of the Vaccine Exemption can be found here.
While this broad loosening of restrictions and the new Vaccine Exemption reflects the city's progress in the fight against the pandemic, Chicago is not at the end of this crisis. As such, certain regulations will remain in place across industries, including the requirement to maintain six feet of social distancing between parties and to wear face coverings at all times except in limited circumstances, such as when patrons are actively eating or drinking.
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