Court issues stay in New York healthcare worker vaccine case

New York's COVID-19 vaccine mandate for healthcare workers remains in effect after a state appeals court issued a stay Feb. 27, according to The Journal News

The stay keeps the vaccine requirement in place during ongoing legal proceedings and temporarily halts enforcement of a January ruling by a state Supreme Court judge.  

Judge Gerard Neri struck down the state's healthcare worker vaccination mandate Jan. 13. He wrote in his ruling that Gov. Kathy Hochul and the New York State Department of Health overstepped their authority by making the requirement permanent because the COVID-19 vaccine is not included in the state's public health law, according to syracuse.com.

"The mandate is beyond the scope of respondents' authority and is therefore null, void and of no effect," he wrote, according to syracuse.com.

State officials filed a notice of appeal in the case, which stems from a lawsuit filed by several healthcare workers who cited, in part, religious objections to COVID-19 vaccination, The Journal News reported. 

New York's vaccine requirement was enacted in 2021. It initially allowed for limited exceptions for workers with religious or medical reasons. However, religious exemptions were later removed from the mandate. 

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