Patch Readers Say Chicago's 'Vax Pass' Plan For Festivals Stinks

CHICAGO — In Chicago, access to summer fun is being planned to favor the vaccinated.

That was the message Tuesday from public health commissioner Dr. Allison Arwardy, who also hinted that America's third-largest metropolis will employ a "Vax Pass" that could be required for entry to festivals, concerts and the like.

An overwhelming majority of nearly 5,000 Patch readers who responded to an online opinion poll think the idea stinks.

About 70 percent of them said folks should not be required to show proof of vaccination to attend summer festivals in the city.

And 64-percent of readers who responded said they would to go to large public gatherings such as Lollapalooza if a proof-of-jab wasn't required for entry.

Those aren't results of a scientific poll. Rather, the replies from Patch readers represent a broad gauge of local public sentiment. Nationally, Americans are split on whether proof of coronavirus vaccinations should be a required prerequisite for travel, public gatherings and returning to in-person work, according to a variety of national pollsters.

A recent Morning Consult poll says most people favor vaccine passports so long as the digital apps aren't mandatory. The great opinion divide on so-called "vaccine passports" is split — like so many social issues — along political party lines. A significant number of Republicans hate the idea, and a majority of Democrats favor being required to flash a smartphone app to security as proof they've been jabbed.

More than 65 percent of Patch readers who responded to the poll said there's no chance they would use smartphone vaccine passports to gain admission to restaurants, bars and concert venues.

More than 27-percent of respondents said they would absolutely use a vaccination passport. About 7 percent said they would reluctantly provide proof-of-jab on their phones if it was mandatory, according to the Patch survey results.

A Chicago public health department spokesman didn't immediately respond when I asked if city officials had a response to people who don't support government-mandated use of vaccine passports.

But Arwady made it clear Tuesday that folks should prepare to show proof of vaccination for at least some mass public gatherings in Chicago.

"You want to be part of the fun? Get vaccinated," she said.

Some Patch readers chimed in on social media calling the city's Vax Pass "unconstitutional," "communistic" and a violation of personal privacy.

Mary Beth Zabinski wrote on Facebook, "Chicago can keep their events. People will go elsewhere."

Other survey responders voiced support for the city's plan, and ridiculed folks objecting to "idiots" who object.

The pandemic "would've been over already if people weren't idiots, and it's the idiots that keep feeding the fire," Tim Jacko wrote. "Get vaccinated or host your own idiot event."

Given the social media vitriol on the topic, Chicago bouncers and festival ticket takers might want to prepare for long lines and colorful conversations.

Mark Konkol, recipient of the 2011 Pulitzer Prize for local reporting, wrote and produced the Peabody Award-winning series, "Time: The Kalief Browder Story." He was a producer, writer and narrator for the "Chicagoland" docu-series on CNN, and a consulting producer on the Showtime documentary, "16 Shots."

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