Players under age 12 have until Jan. 1 to receive their second shot; everyone older than that needed to be fully vaccinated by the day of the notice, sent by OPYBS President Brian Endless on Dec. 11. | Pixabay
Players under age 12 have until Jan. 1 to receive their second shot; everyone older than that needed to be fully vaccinated by the day of the notice, sent by OPYBS President Brian Endless on Dec. 11. | Pixabay
Oak Park Youth Baseball & Softball is mandating players under 12 and under who want to engage in team training be vaccinated against COVID-19.
The group sent out the notice to parents and players in the program, which read, “All players, coaches and anyone else in the office (parents. etc.) must be FULLY vaccinated for Covid. This includes two shots of Pfizer or Moderna or one shot of J&J, plus two weeks."
Players under age 12 have until Jan. 1 to receive their second shot; everyone older than that needed to be fully vaccinated by the day of the notice, sent by OPYBS President Brian Endless on Dec. 11.
Oak Park Health Department has shown a willingness to engage in controversial bans and mandates.
Its leader, Dr. Theresa Chapple-McGruder, has been the focus of scrutiny since the department eliminated Oak Park and River Forest High School’s extracurricular activities for the remainder of the year, ABC7 Chicago reported.
The mandate was overturned after parents protested.
Despite the turmoil Chapple-McGruder — an epidemiologist who was appointed to her role with the village in April of this year — stood by her decision to cancel sports and other activities at the school.
The Oak Park Health Department has not commented on an allegation by a Twitter user that Chapple-McGruder is being investigated after the Twitter user accused Chapple-McGruder of saying she vaccinated her daughter’s entire class.
Other outraged residents have taken to social media to decry the vaccine mandate.
“In one of latest examples of child-punishing, data-ignoring, anti-science COVID insanity, Oak Park Youth Baseball/Softball is now *mandating* vaccination for ALL kids, even under 12, in order to use even batting cages!” one twitter user said.
The tweet linked to a copy of OPYBS’s announcement.
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