Amid an ongoing legal battle over Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s vaccine mandate for city workers, the controversial president of Chicago’s largest police union announced this weekend that he tested positive for COVID-19 after being vaccinated.
In a video posted to YouTube Saturday, John Catanzara told members of the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 7 that he “came down” with the virus last week as cases surged to unseen levels and the union and the city remained locked in arbitration over the vaccine mandate. Catanzara, who retired from the police department in November and teased a mayoral run, noted his symptoms were “mild” and “already subsiding.”
But he also used the five-minute video to take shots at city leaders — and the vaccine shots he baselessly claimed are ineffective.
“This vaccine is not a vaccine. It is a COVID treatment at best,” he claimed. “Far too many people who are vaccinated are getting the virus for it to be called a vaccine. That needs to stop. All we can do is continue to distance a little better, wash your hands more, and be a little smarter about how you interact with other people.”
Catanzara, who recently vacationed in Jamaica, didn’t respond to questions, including whether he’s received a booster shot.
Dr. Robert Murphy, the executive director of the Institute of Global Health at Northwestern University, said getting that additional shot is critical as he lambasted Catanzara’s “dangerous” comments.
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