CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) – The head of the Chicago Police Department said unvaccinated officers have a little over two weeks to get their initial COVID-19 vaccination now that an arbitrator has ruled in the city’s favor.
The arbitrator said the city of Chicago is within its rights to demand police officers to get their COVID-19 shots and, now, officers who have resisted have until March 13 to get their first one.
Brown said he is trying to avoid stoking the flames by talking about the potential to put dozens of officers into no-pay status.
“Instead of creating some controversial remark regarding how many officers going into no-pay status…our officers are smart, have families and we ought to give them their due respect like we have in making this tough decision if they have apprehension about the vaccine,” he said.
Brown said more than 70% of police employees are vaccinated, which, he pointed out, is higher than the percentage of the Chicago population in general.
“I would be very surprised if we didn’t have a very small, small sub-set of officers that don’t comply with this arbiter’s decision,” he said.
After the first shot deadline in March, unvaccinated officers have until April 13 to get the second one. Those who have made good faith efforts to get shots but will miss those deadlines could get brief extensions.
Related
