Chicago City Wire

The leader of Chicago's Republican Party isn't happy about a new mandate from Mayor Lori Lightfoot (D) that will require customers to provide proof of vaccination to enter certain businesses in the city in the New Year.

Lightfoot claimed the city was experiencing a "fifth wave" of the COVID-19 virus when she issued the vaccine mandate which will take effect on Jan. 3, 2022, NBC 5 Chicago reported.

"With no rational basis in science for the new mandates, it is plain that they are mere political posturing before upcoming elections," Steve Boulton, Chicago's GOP chairman, said. "These mandates did not originate with scientists in Washington, D.C., but instead with politicians in New York, Los Angeles, and now Chicago. People are being punished for exercising their personal liberty, just so politicians can use fall guys to create distractions and political cover."

Lightfoot's mandate will require people ages 5 and older who want to go into restaurants, bars, gyms, coffee shops, breweries, banquet halls, hotel ballrooms, fitness classes, movie theaters, concert venues, sports arenas, bowling alleys, and performing arts centers to show proof of "full" vaccination, according to NBC 5 Chicago. CBS New York reported New York City currently has a similar mandate in place. 

According to News Nation Now, as of Dec. 21, Illinois was one of only eight states in the country with a statewide mask mandate despite vaccination status.