CHICAGO, IL — The Cook County Department of Public Health has announced that all individuals ages 16+ can now register online for a vaccination appointment at vaccine.cookcountyil.gov. Cook County has two Vaccination Mega Centers located in the suburban 17th District:

Tinley Park Convention Center

18451 Convention Center Drive

Tinley Park, IL 60477

Des Plaines Vaccination Center

(Formerly Kmart Store)

1155 E. Oakton Street

Des Plaines, IL 60018

COOK COUNTY WILL NOW OFFER WALK-IN REGISTRATIONS: Today through Saturday, Cook County will pilot a walk-in strategy by opening our Tinley Park (Moderna) and Matteson (Pfizer) sites for walk-ins. Walk-ins will be welcome from 8:30AM – 5:00PM today and Thursday. Individuals or groups who are interested in getting a vaccine can simply show up with photo ID and register onsite. Next week, Cook County will pilot evening walk-in hours at some of our sites to accommodate workers unable to get to a daytime appointment. More details about this will be announced later this week.

For the latest COVID-19 vaccination information in Cook County, and to make an appointment to be vaccinated, visit: https://cookcountypublichealth.org/.

Lemont, IL – Commissioner Sean Morrison was pleased to joined several of his board colleagues and staff from the Forest Preserve District of Cook County today for an Earth Day press conference at the Sagawau Environmental Learning Center in Lemont. Earth Day was a great opportunity to showcase the terrific amenities the Cook County Forest Preserves have to offer. In light of the pandemic, there is no better time for people to get outside and into the fresh clean air of our forest preserves to exercise and enjoy the experiences of nature right here in Cook County.

Please visit www.fpdcc.com to learn more about the Cook County Forest Preserves and why its one of the very best in the nation.

This week, we witnessed Governor Pritzker sign into law HB 2653, a massive criminal justice reform bill. This 700 page bill was quickly passed during the state legislature’s Lame Duck session in January. A piece of legislation of this size and magnitude deserved a much more transparent and open public review process which the Illinois General Assembly and Governor Pritzker did not provide. Instead, they rammed the bill through at 4:00am in the morning while the public was asleep in bed to avoid any kind of scrutiny. I stand with the Illinois Law Enforcement Coalition in opposition to this new law.

While shootings, murders and car jackings skyrocket in Chicago this one-sided criminal justice reform law, championed by State’s Attorney Kim Foxx and other notable elected officials, clearly favors criminals over law-abiding residents and police officers. This new law is very likely to have a negative impact on public safety in Cook County and across our state.

Will this new law make our communities safer? I do not believe it will. It makes the job of police officers significantly more difficult. It weakens proactive policing measures and will put police officers in a defensive posture. It makes the ability of criminals to exploit or sidestep law enforcement that much easier. It also weakens protections for crime victims. Ultimately, it will not make our communities safer.

By signing this bill, Governor Pritzker clearly showed his anti-police bias, and he put the interests of criminals and criminal behavior ahead of preserving the safety of Illinois residents and communities.

Commissioner Sean M. Morrison

17th District – Cook County