Tue Sep 14, 2021 – 6:06 pm EDT
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UTICA, New York (LifeSiteNews) – A federal judge in New York has temporarily blocked the state from enforcing a COVID-19 vaccine mandate without religious exemptions that applies to hundreds of thousands of healthcare workers.
Judge David Hurd of the Northern District of New York ruled Tuesday that the New York state health department (DOH) “is barred from interfering in any way with the granting of religious exemptions from COVID-19 vaccination going forward, or with the operation of exemptions already granted.”
“The vaccine mandate is suspended in operation to the extent that the DOH is barred from enforcing any requirement that employers deny religious exemptions from COVID-19 vaccination or that they revoke any exemptions employers already granted before the vaccine mandate issued,” Hurd added.
During his final days in office, former Democrat Gov. Andrew Cuomo last month imposed strict COVID-19 vaccine requirements with no testing opt-out for all New York healthcare workers. The mandate impacts more than 450,000 public and private employees.
The New York State Department of Health subsequently voted to eliminate religious exemptions from the vaccine
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