CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- An alderman and community groups in the Pilsen neighborhood are the latest to call for increased COVID testing and vaccination in Chicago Public Schools.
25th ward Alderman Byron Sigcho-Lopez and members of the Pilsen-Little Village Health Alliance gathered outside Dvorak Park in Pilsen Thursday morning to call on the city to ramp up testing and vaccination efforts in Chicago Public Schools.
"We are urging-this is a demand from all community groups from the 25th ward to make sure that vaccination and testing happens regularly- weekly in our public schools," he said.
Sigcho-Lopez and other community activists are echoing the call by the Chicago Teachers Union to turn public schools into hubs for community testing and vaccination efforts, especially since the Omicron variant is now spreading across the country.
"This is critical that we make sure that vaccination reaches our most vulnerable communities in our schools," Sigcho-Lopez said.
He also called on the city and CPS to spend federal COVID relief funds to hire social workers and school psychologists to tackle the mental health crisis among young people that was caused by the COVID pandemic.
"We have to make sure that this is a priority to invest $2 billion in social workers, nurses, and to prevent more tragedies in our community," Sigcho- Lopez said.
The Pilsen-Little Village Health Alliance is holding a COVID-19 vaccine clinic for children between 10:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. Saturday at Dvorak Park at 1119 W. Cullerton St. in Pilsen.
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