East Central Reporter

State Rep. Chris Miller (R-Oakland) has called the new vaccine mandate requiring people ages 5 and older to show proof of full vaccination status before entering certain facilities "tyranny."

The mandate was issued by Chicago's Democratic Mayor Lori Lightfoot who tweeted 'we have no choice' and cited the current situation involving the rising number of COVID-19 cases.

"Coming soon statewide? This is tyranny people," Miller wrote in a Dec. 21 Facebook post. "Remember when the rules didn't apply to Lightfoot and she got a haircut when salons were shutdown and there were no vaccines? She doesn't care about you or your business. Are you going to take this?"

Lightfoot blamed the mandate on what she called a "fifth wave" of the virus. According to NBC Chicago, the mandate will take effect Jan. 3, 2022 and will be required for people who want to go into bars, restaurants, gyms, coffee shops, breweries, banquet halls, hotel ballrooms, fitness classes, movie theaters, concert venues, sports arenas, bowling alleys, and performing arts centers. The mandate applies for anyone 5 years and older, and people 16 and older will also have to show identification. New York City currently has a similar mandate in place.

Illinois is one of just eight states in the country that has a statewide mask mandate regardless of a person's vaccination status, according to NewsNation Now. 

AAAS Science Journalism Award-winning science writer Jennifer Frazer found that "vaccinated people - whether they have symptoms or not - are contracting and spreading the virus in nontrivial numbers." In an article Frazer wrote for Scientific American, Frazer noted that the WHO director-general said that the vaccines were only "40% effective" at preventing the spread of the virus.