Federal Judge Keeps NYC Vaccine Mandate for Teachers in Place

A federal judge in the Southern District of New York declined to issue an injunction on the vaccine mandate for public schools employees on Wednesday, ABC 7 reported.

The preliminary injunction would have paused the mandate while the court heard arguments from employees who claimed they have religious exemptions against the vaccine. A previous appeal has already been denied, and some of the plaintiffs had been denied a second time and were seeking an injunction so as to not be fired.

“The Court has no facts before it on which it could conclude that the Citywide Panel’s process was irrational in any way or infected with hostility to religion,” District Judge Valerie Caproni said.

Last week, the Supreme Court declined to consider the case of a group of New York healthcare workers who opposed the vaccine due to their religious beliefs.

Legal arguments against vaccine mandates on grounds of religious freedom have consistently been denied by the courts, which said they do not single out particular religions.