Committee on Health and Human Relations

Chicago City Council

Health

Politics

Monday, May 3, 2021
1:00 p.m. CDT

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Chicago, IL 60602 (Directions)

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Reporting

Edited and summarized by the Chicago - IL Documenters Team

Note-taking by Chloe Vitale

Two million Chicagoans vaccinated, Vaccine outreach and impact

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Live reporting by Ahmad Sayles

Two million Chicagoans vaccinated, Vaccine outreach and impact

Ahmad Sayles @ahmad_sayles

Good Evening! I’ll be tweeting today’s Committee on Health and Human Relations meeting for @CHIdocumenters #CHIdocumenters. The meeting took place this afternoon. Due to COVID-19, this hearing was held remotely. Agenda here: chicago.legistar.com/View.ashx?M=A&…

08:15 PM May 3, 2021 CDT

Ahmad Sayles @ahmad_sayles 2/18

Recording of the Committee on Health and Human Relations meeting : vimeo.com/showcase/62772…

Ahmad Sayles @ahmad_sayles 3/18

Chairman Sawyer (6) calls the meeting to order. 13 members attended the meeting. Quorum reached. No public comments.

Ahmad Sayles @ahmad_sayles 4/18

There was a typo in the agenda given to the public. The first item on the agenda should’ve been approval of April’s Monthly 45 report, not March.

Ahmad Sayles @ahmad_sayles 5/18

The committee passed the approval of April’s Monthly 45 Report unanimously.

Ahmad Sayles @ahmad_sayles 6/18

The second item on the agenda was the Appointment of Mamadou Diakhate as Executive Director of Animal Care and Control. Mr. Diakhate serves as the acting director of ACC. He was a private veterinarian for 35 years and received praise from committee members for his work.

Ahmad Sayles @ahmad_sayles 7/18

City Council members Garza(10), Hadden(49), Harris(8) all give endorsements of the appointment. Committee moves to recommend approval of the appointment at the next meeting.

Ahmad Sayles @ahmad_sayles 8/18

The last item on the agenda is an update on the city's actions in response to the pandemic. Dr. Allison Arwady, Commissioner of the Chicago Department of Public Health gives the presentation.

Ahmad Sayles @ahmad_sayles 9/18

Commissioner Arwady says in comparison to the rest of the state Chicago has done better in mitigating the virus. 1 in 10 Chicagoans has been diagnosed with COVID-19 while in other parts of Illinois that number rises to 1 in 7. https://t.co/bKRlGIszsj

Ahmad Sayles @ahmad_sayles 10/18

Commissioner Arwady explains how vaccinations for skilled nursing facilities have reduced the number of cases. The chart shows that before being vaccinated these facilities were the main drivers of COVID-19 cases. https://t.co/MztVq18FZx

Ahmad Sayles @ahmad_sayles 11/18

Commissioner Arwady says that the two keys to reopening and having businesses open to full capacity will be healthcare capacity and vaccinations.

Ahmad Sayles @ahmad_sayles 12/18

Other highlights from Commissioner Arwady’s presentation were the city passing the benchmark of 2 million Chicagoans being vaccinated and claiming that Chicago has had the most equitable vaccine distribution in the U.S. https://t.co/Vm2lQgPuv4

Ahmad Sayles @ahmad_sayles 13/18

Increasing vaccine providers, mobile vaccination efforts, and the homebound program are the main objectives of CDPH right now in the fight against COVID-19.

Ahmad Sayles @ahmad_sayles 14/18

City Council members ask the commissioner what is the strategy to continue the vaccine outreach. Commissioner Arwady says that the city may activate park districts as vaccination sites to reach deeper into communities.

Ahmad Sayles @ahmad_sayles 15/18

Dr. Arwady also says that she anticipates that 12-15 years old will be eligible for the vaccine later this month. And the city is planning for that endeavor.

Ahmad Sayles @ahmad_sayles 16/18

Vaccine hesitancy, achieving herd immunity, and vaccine waste are the main concerns from the council members. Persistent outreach and oversight is the way to rectify those issues says Commissioner Arwady.

Ahmad Sayles @ahmad_sayles 17/18

Chairman Sawyer thanks Commissioner Arwady for her presentation & work. The commissioner and committee members agree to stay in touch and bounce new ideas off of each other to help in Chicago’s fight against COVID-19. Chairman Sawyer adjourns the meeting.

Ahmad Sayles @ahmad_sayles 18/18

Chicago City Council’s Committee on Health and Human Relations meeting lasted approximately two hours. This ends my coverage for @CHIdocumenters more information through Chloe Vitale’s notes at documenters.org

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Agency Information

Chicago City Council

chicityclerkelms.chicago.gov

(312) 744-3166

@ChiCouncil

See Documenters reporting

The Chicago City Council is the legislative branch of the government of the City of Chicago and consists of the Mayor and Aldermen elected from each of the City’s fifty wards. Source

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Recordings of past City Council meetings may be found here: https://vimeo.com/user100351763/videos/sort:date.

See also: “What to Expect at a Meeting of Chicago’s City Council” via the Better Government Association.