(WBBM NEWSRADIO) — Chicago restaurants were given less than two weeks to comply with Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s requirement that they check proof of vaccination against COVID-19 for all customers, starting Jan. 3.
Many owners are formally requesting a deadline extension.
“I have no idea how I'm going to, in my restaurant, figure out the logistics of how this is going to be done,” said Mary Kay Tuzi, owner of Twin Anchors Restaurant and Tavern in Old Town.
“Short of having somebody stand outside and check IDs, which means I have to hire somebody new,” she added Monday.
The Chicago Restaurants Coalition sent a letter to Mayor Lightfoot Monday afternoon asking her to give them until Jan. 15 to comply. The group notes Boston and Washington D.C. have granted that kind of delay to restaurateurs.
“Restaurants can’t turn this around in 13 days,” said Roger Romanelli, the coalition’s executive director, referring to Lightfoot’s Jan. 3 effective date.
Mayor Lightfoot previously said the health order may pose an inconvenience to the unvaccinated, and in fact is “inconvenient by design.” But Tuzi tells WBBM Newsradio it feels that restaurants are once again caught in the crosshairs of the city’s battle against COVID-19.
“Using the restaurants as an incentive, I think it’s short-sighted, I think it’s foolish,” she said.
The coalition is also asking the Chicago Police Department for written guidance and support in dealing with potentially angry customers.
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