The East Bank Club is pushing for an exemption to the city’s mask requirement, citing its plan to ensure all members and staff are vaccinated.
The high-end River North fitness club announced the vaccine requirement last week, shortly before Chicago officials brought back an indoor mask mandate requiring anyone age 2 or older to wear a face mask in public indoor spaces.
“We believe that if the city were aware of our actions, or those of any business taking the same measures, the mask mandate would be reconsidered. And the sooner our Club can get to full vaccination status, the sooner we can put required masking in our rearview mirror,” CEO Mel Kleist wrote in an email to club members late last week.
Kleist said East Bank Club would “officially kick off our campaign to get this requirement dropped.”
Crain’s Chicago Business first reported East Bank Club’s plans to request an exemption.
There are no exemptions to the mask mandate the city reinstated for public indoor settings amid rising COVID-19 cases last week, public health department spokesman Andrew Buchanan wrote in a statement.
“While we’re hopeful this will be only a temporary move, with the highly transmissible Delta variant causing case rates to increase, this measure can help us prevent further spread and save lives,” he said.
The club gave members and employees until Oct. 1 to comply with the vaccination requirement, but according to a club survey, about 95% of members and employees are already vaccinated, Kleist wrote in the email to members.
While some Chicago restaurants have already announced vaccine mandates, East Bank Club is one of the first major gyms in the city to require vaccines.
East Bank Club will begin accepting confirmation of full vaccination Wednesday, Kleist said in an email.
Masks are still required at the club, which will provide them if necessary when members enter, but “our employees are not bouncers,” he wrote.