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Cook County’s top judge reverses position and issues a vaccine mandate for employees

COVID-19 Vaccine
Officials told WBEZ there is no vaccine mandate for people who work for the chief judge of the Cook County Circuit Court – including staff at the county’s juvenile jail – or the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago. Manuel Martinez / WBEZ, file photo

Days after facing criticism in a WBEZ story for his lack of a vaccine mandate, the chief judge of the Cook County Circuit Court system announced Tuesday that he was requiring court employees to get their COVID-19 shots.

Until abruptly reversing his position, Chief Judge Timothy Evans was virtually alone among the leaders of Illinois and local government in not issuing a vaccine mandate. Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot, Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle and other elected county officials announced their employees were required to get vaccinated months ago.

In a memo to all judges and other employees, Evans cited the nationwide surge in cases attributed to the contagious omicron variant as a prime reason for reversing his position.

Failure to comply with the new vaccination policy, Evans said, “may subject an employee to discipline, up to and including termination of employment.”

Employees will have three weeks to get their first shot of one of the vaccines, Evans said.

According to Evans’ spokesperson, the policy will cover about 2,600 court employees, though not the roughly 400 judges. The chief judge’s employees include 574 people who work at the juvenile jail, which is run by Evans.

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