Protesters in Park Ridge call on mayor to oppose Cook County vaccine mandate
PARK RIDGE, Ill. - The Cook County vaccine mandate that went into effect on Monday is not sitting well with some residents in the north suburbs.
Protesters gathered outside the Park Ridge Village Hall late Tuesday morning and called on Mayor Marty Maloney to publicly oppose the new Cook County proof of vaccination mandate.
They say having to show a vaccination card at bars, restaurants, health clubs and other public indoor businesses goes too far.
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"Separating vaccinated and unvaccinated children is unjust, unnecessary, and does not even work," said a flyer calling on residents to join the protest. "We simply cannot complain to each other anymore."
How the mandate is impacting children was one major focus. One protester carried a sign reading "healthy kids are not a threat".
Another expressed concern that unvaccinated children as young as five are being "segregated" from their peers and excluded from things like dance lessons and swim classes.
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One mom didn't want to give her name but called the mandate "unfair and psychologically damaging."
Other protesters said they control their own bodies and their money and will not get vaccinated and won't ever visit businesses that are requiring proof of vaccinations.
However residents like Scott Zuhr and Susan Kruesi, who describe themselves as senior citizens who have lived in Park Ridge for decades, said "showing our vaccination cards or taking a simple test that protects all of us should never have been politicized or made a problem in our great caring society."
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They likened showing a vaccination card to "stopping our cars for someone crossing the street in a crosswalk...(to) show we care about others."
Melissa Fortune, a Park Ridge resident who was not part of the protest said "I will show it ... if I want to go out. But I don't like that mandate. I don't like that I have to show something that is personal to me."
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"It's not going to work it'll just make businesses suffer more," said Jennifer Stanisic. "It might make a restaurant that's suffering, suffer more."
Maloney was not at Village Hall to see the protesters. FOX 32 was told he is returning from vacation Tuesday evening. He did not yet respond to a request for comment about whether he could be swayed by such a protest.