Capitol Fax.com – Your Illinois News Radar »Here we go again: BCC reports that Loretto exec distributed vaxes to” big bosses “at a fancy restaurant he frequents

* Kelly Bauer and Bob Chiarito at the Block Club Chicago …

Employees at an expensive Gold Coast steakhouse were able to get vaccinated earlier, the sources say – making it the third business in which people linked to the Loretto Hospital operations director apparently managed to cut the line.

Loretto Hospital and its executives, including director of operations Dr. Anosh Ahmed and executive director George Miller, are already involved in controversy after the first doses were sent to groups with whom they have ties. Ahmed was harshly criticized after Loretto held a vaccination event at the Trump Tower – where Ahmed and another hospital leader live – and after Ahmed told people he vaccinated millionaire Eric Trump.

A luxury watch and jewelry store on the Gold Coast frequented by Ahmed was also vaccinated by Loretto in early March; and more than 200 people in the suburban church of the hospital’s CEO were vaccinated by Loretto. Ineligible Cook County judges also received offers in Loretto, WBEZ reported. Dr. Allison Arwady, head of the city’s health department, said Loretto used his doses on “well-connected” people, “allowing them to skip the line”.

Now, several sources have told Block Club officials at another location where Ahmed is a regular customer who has managed to gain early access to vaccines: Maple & Ash, a modern and sophisticated steakhouse at 8 W. Maple St. Reservations at the steakhouse require a Deposit $ 100 and steaks cost up to $ 180.

Ahmed is a frequent client of the Gold Coast restaurant, and vaccines have been offered to high-ranking officials who would be ineligible to be vaccinated, several sources told the Block Club. The hospital led by Ahmed in Austin is expected to serve and vaccinate people on the West Side, where the coronavirus has devastated black communities.

Go read the rest. Guy had the sweet connection.

* Once the judges have been mentioned, this is from the Chief Judge’s Office …

This is an answer to press inquiries about some judges who are not in the county’s “1B” category receiving COVID-19 vaccines at Loretto Hospital.

The judges who received the shots were informed that the vaccines were already mixed and would be destroyed if they were not used by the end of the day, so that they could be vaccinated after 3:30 pm, if supplies allow. The Loretto Hospital website makes it clear that COVID-19 vaccinations are given until 3 pm, so vaccines administered thereafter would be in surplus. Judges who were shot did not fire at other eligible people, but used shots that would have otherwise been destroyed.

Currently, Cook County judges under the age of 65 are not classified as 1B, the group currently eligible for the vaccine. However, the Illinois Supreme Court’s position is that vaccines should be available to all court officials and officials who have regular contact with the public and others in a congregated environment, and judges under the age of 65 in many other counties. have already been vaccinated, according to Supreme Court spokesman Chris Bonjean.

Despite the various precautions taken by the Chief Judge’s Office to protect court officials and members of the public during the coronavirus pandemic – which included conducting most procedures by videoconference and teleconference – judges and other court officials are not immune to this virus. A total of 286 employees of the Chief Judge’s Office and 21 judges have tested positive for COVID-19 since the pandemic began.

The COVID-19 vaccination is to protect against a deadly virus, and the judges under the age of 65 who managed to obtain these injections did not violate ethical rules, but acted responsibly to protect themselves, their loved ones and the public, without take the injections away from others in category 1B.

… Adding… I would say that Amy Jacobson became a parody of herself, but it happened a while ago …