Chicago to Require Proof of Vaccination for Restaurants, Bars, Other Indoor Venues

Chicago will soon require proof of vaccination for restaurants, bars, gyms and other indoor spaces, joining big cities like New York and Los Angeles in the move to curb the surge of COVID cases. 

Beginning January 3, anyone over the age of 5 will be required to show proof of vaccination to visit most indoor public venues, the city’s mayor announced Tuesday, per NBC Chicago. 

“Despite our diligent and equitable vaccine distribution efforts throughout this year, unfortunately, our city continues to see a surge of COVID-19 Delta and now Omicron cases,” Mayor Lori Lightfoot said in a statement. “New steps must be taken to protect the health and wellbeing of our residents. This public health order requiring proof of vaccination to visit certain indoor public places is a necessary measure to ensure we can continue to enjoy our city’s many amenities as we enter the new year.” 

“This new requirement will not eliminate COVID risk, but will help ensure a much safer indoor environment for fully vaccinated Chicagoans, as well as for the employees working in these higher-risk settings. As we head further into the winter months, we must take this step now,” Chicago Department of Public Health Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady said in a statement. “With Omicron, I do expect to see many more COVID reinfections and breakthrough cases, but luckily the vaccines continue to protect very well against severe illness, hospitalization, and death - and even more so when people have also had a booster shot. I remain most worried about the hundreds of thousands of Chicagoans who still have not received a single dose of COVID vaccine nor recovered from COVID infection. I’m worried for their own health, but also for the risk they pose to others’ health and to our hospital capacity - and while we are in this concerning surge, we must limit that risk.”