Eight people living in Chicago have contracted the Measles virus in the last week. Seven of those people are living at a Pilsen migrant shelter.
“I came here when I was 17,” said 25th Ward Ald. Byron Sigcho-Lopez. “I understand the fear many of these residents have.”
That’s one reason why he is leading the charge within city council, to get involved in the city’s newest public health crisis.
Sigcho-Lopez said he’s frustrated with a lack of protocol that he believes led the city to this point.
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“When we don’t have landing zones with protocols, at the border even, and we continue to respond with more law enforcement rather than CDC protocols, these are the consequences,” he said.
Mayor Brandon Johnson said health screenings are now taking place at the landing zone, and vaccinations, too.
“We’ve always had health screenings there. We have strengthened our collective response at the landing zone to get people vaccinated before they move on,” Johnson said.
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Many migrants go from the landing zone to one of the city’s shelters.
Ald. Andre Vasquez said so far, city aldermen are focused on education inside the shelter in Pilsen, but they still have more work ahead.
“We are doing everything we can to make sure,” Ald. Vasquez said. “That’s just one shelter and we have 23 more ahead.”
