US Supreme Court Denies Bid to Block New York Health Care Worker COVID-19 Vaccine Mandate

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - The US Supreme Court denied a bid by New York health care workers to block a state law mandating they receive COVID-19 vaccines without providing any religious exemptions, an order released on Monday said.

“The application for injunctive relief presented to Justice Sotomayor and by her referred to the Court is denied,” the order said.

Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito and Neil Gorsuch would have granted the application for injunctive relief and blocked the mandate’s enforcement, the order noted.

Justice Gorsuch authored a dissenting opinion in which he argued that the health care workers challenging the law deserve relief while they await the Supreme Court’s decision on their petition for a writ of certiorari.

The health care workers argued that the mandate violates their First Amendment rights, an argument echoed by Gorsuch in his dissenting opinion when he stated that the mandate “clearly interferes” with the free exercise of religion.

The Supreme Court’s decision means that New York State is not required to provide religious exemptions to their vaccine mandate while its legality is determined by the courts.